Eugène Dillon has been cycling on the continent once more, tackling the climbs of the Ardennes again - have a read below!

Flèche Andennaise Classic

Eugène Dillon

I lifted the bike and stepped down on to the pebbled platform at Andenne train station, a town amidst the Ardennes. It was half seven in the brisk cold morning and I was here to ride the sportive of the Fleche Wallonne, the day before the pros ride the mid week race. This was a much smaller event than the Amstel Gold Race or Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I found the sports complex, registered for five euros and rolled out with a gang from the Vélo Club de Hélécine. These guys had white jerseys with yellow shoulders.

We took a sharp turn right over some train tracks and straight into the climb of the Chant d’Oiseaux. The road climbed through woods until the countryside cleared to a vibrant green. The group swelled as the roads started to undulate on the plateau at the top. I followed a group of five that got a gap. Their club had black jerseys with green armbands. We descended back to the River Meuse and passed through a town called Nameche. We crossed back over the river and turned off a big road onto a narrow climb. On the top, the group stopped so I rolled on. On the plateau after another climb, I went to a few other groups to avoid the dreaded wind. Not long after the feed stop, a massive group caught me and I tried to settle at the back. But the pace was too hot and I was spat out the back.

I settled back into a rhythm alone against the wind and on a main road. The route diverted me onto a small narrow road through the vibrant green again. After the entrance to a castle, the road rose again with a vast meadow to the right and I overtook a cyclist but noticed a guy in a blue jersey was bridging up to me. The guy in blue had the name of a hairdresser on his jersey as the sponsor so he became hairdresser dude. The group swelled on the descent and we rolled back into the town of Andenne and out of it through some villages until a steep climb called the Cote de Bohisseau that started in a village but ended up in the deep green plateau. The hairdresser dude stood on the pedals and disappeared away around the point where the road was painted with PHIL PHIL PHIL. The day had warmed up considerably so near the top I stopped and took off my knee warmers. It took a good chase on the open windy plateau to make it back.

We descended down to Huy and managed to catch hairdresser dude. I anticipated that we would tackle the Muur next but the arrows on the road directed us to a different climb. It turned out to be the Cherave, a climb they added in this year’s edition of the race at 5km to go for the professionals (and at about 40km to go for us). A swarm of dark green jerseys descended on the other side of the road and I recognized them as Europcar with Pierre Rolland at the back. Hairdresser dude stood on the pedals and danced away. I was in my element and I went after him, zipping down my jersey in the heat. When I uploaded the cycle to Strava afterwards I was KOM on the climb (but of course hairdresser dude was slightly faster) but within several hours I was 135th. All the pros were doing a recon of the route and a girl from the Lotto-Soudal ladies team was leading.

Dillon on the Cote de Cherave (thanks to Jean-Claude Delfosse of ACA Cyclos Andenne)

Hairdresser dude and I descended back to Huy and started the Muur. HUY was painted repeatedly in the middle of the road. I recognized the lower slopes from Betancur’s attack there in 2013. The hairdresser guy and I ascended the lower slopes together with the name of the up and coming Belgian climber Tim Wellens painted repeatedly on the road – TIM TIM TIM. There was a bunch of people sitting at the famous steep twisting corner. I decided to pass out the hairdresser dude on the steeper left side. I could feel the road beckon me to go for it. The corner leads into a gentler corner followed by the next steep section ahead. I climbed up this section and overtook two Flemish guys while a gang of school children sat on the footpath on the right hand side of the road. I felt the effort and had some doubts as to why I went for it and what it must feel like to be a pro launching a move here (Gilbert launched his move here in 2011 which was early but he held on). I held on and passed a second corner (the point at which Evans overtook Contador in 2010). The road eased and a bunch of tents appeared on either side of the road but there was no marking as to when the climb ended. There was a road off to the right and a Bigla Pro cycling team car parked at the junction, full of professional cyclists. I thought I recognized Annemiek van Vleuten in the passenger seat so I gave a big wave. I think she looked startled but I thought ‘sure a guy in a SKIL jersey, she has to know who it is’.

After a feed stop I joined a group of three guys from the Hélécine club again. Another guy joined, commenting to me about my wraps, and we chatted a bit in English and in French. He had carbon rims and a flashy bike, wore dark glasses, a white with red aero helmet with a black cycling cap underneath that was pulled too far forward. He looked out from under the cap with a big smile just as all us cyclists do. Soon we were on the next climb, the Cote d’Ereffe. On his crossbar he had a piece of paper with all the climbs and the distance written so I asked in passing how far was it to the next and final climb. He eased off the back of the group and took some time to figure it out. At this stage the three guys from the Hélécine club launched one hell of a sprint. They disappeared on the winding roads of the plateau.

With the heavy wind against us, the two of us chased as we saw them in the distance. We caught a pair of guys from a cycling club that appeared to model their jerseys on the Garmin argyle style. One had his club’s version of the 2009 Garmin-Slipsteam with the brown auburn colours and the other had a version of the Garmin-Sharp jersey that Martin had when he won Liège. The friendly guy with the hat, the Garmin-Sharp guy and myself shared the workload with the fourth guy sitting on. At some point, the friendly guy dropped off and I didn't get to talk to him again. I took some long turns until when we caught a group ahead after a junction. I had noticed for some time that a lone chaser in a red Lotto-Soudal jersey was in the distance. He had held his ground but had not managed to join the Hélécine guys. I thought he would be a good candidate to bridge across to so I launched a move. The road was slightly downhill but did undulate and there was a lot of wind on the plateau. It took me too long – I think I was chasing for about five or six kilometres. By the time I finally bridged up to him on a descent, he had just caught the hairdresser dude. We only had about six kilometres left including one short climb and a short descent but I couldn’t contribute.

We arrived shortly enough in Andenne back at the complex. I thanked the Lotto guy but didn’t get to explain. I explained to the hairdresser guy that I was cooked (épuisé) at the end. ‘No problem’. I chatted to the Hélécine guys and the guys in the black with green armbands. It was a nice sportive to cycle to experience the finale part of the Fleche Wallonne (which will also be the finale of one of the early stages of the Tour de France this year). It was well organized and sign posted by the Andenne cycling club with two feed stops en route and pasta at the finish all for five euros. It was great to experience the new climb, the muur and the Col d’Erffe (which the peloton go over after the muur earlier in the race). Once up the Muur de Huy was enough for me though!