Think of the Muur van Gerardsbergen and chances are you’ll think of the Tour of Flanders, with the cobbled climb returning to the race last April after a five-year absence.
> Muur van Geraardsbergen returns to Tour of Flanders
But press reports in Belgium suggest that in 2019, it could feature in the first stage of the Tour de France.
The Belgian capital was confirmed earlier this year as the host of the Grand Depart of what will be the 106th edition of the race.
> 2019 Tour de France to start in Brussels
Precise details of the opening days of the race will be unveiled in Brussels on 16 January 2018.
But according to Het Nieuwsblad, it will begin on Saturday 6 July with a road stage that will take the peloton out into Flanders and Wallonia.
Expectations are that the Muur will feature on the itinerary, with Geraardsbergen’s mayor, Guido van Padt, actively lobbying for its inclusion.
That opening stage would then be followed by a team time trial in Brussels on Sunday 7 July.
It will be the second time the race has started in Brussels, the previous time being in 1958.
In all, the Tour de France has visited the city on 11 occasions, the first of those when it hosted the finish of Stage 2 of the 1947 edition.
The 2019 race marks the 50th anniversary of the first of Eddy Merckx’s five Tour de France wins, with the Brussels Grand Depart designed as a tribute to him.
However, it’s far from clear whether the Belgian legend will be there himself after he became embroiled in a dispute with race organisers ASO.
According to reports in Belgium, the row is centred around the Tour of Oman with Merckx, who helped ASO set up the race in 2010, not involved in next year’s edition.
Quoted in the Belgian press last month, Merckx said that the dispute was making him have second thoughts about being involved in the Brussels Grand Depart.
Merckx and ASO also collaborated on the Tour of Qatar, although this year’s edition of the race, which had been due to be upgraded to UCI WorldTour status, was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship.
I think we are missing a very important part of the report. This is from the executive summary :...
Absolutely this, riders gonna crash it is a race. And tempering any aspect of that competitiveness would detract from the race but developing...
One of the reasons I like Torq products is because they do not use Sortbitol as a sweetener. As those that are sensitive to Sorbital will know, and...
I came to say the opposite, I always liked Giro shoes but they're insanely narrow. I hope they did change the fit.
Frame weight is about a hundred grams less than a CAAD 12 disc, which can be picked up cheap these days on gumtree. Heck, get the CAAD12 non disc...
You're too kind. They just seem to be unpleasant trolls.
And in Southampton today we had another example of those entitled ambulances going through red lights without a care for anyone else!...
The spokes and nipples are not anodised for environmental reasons, but the rims are. Which is a lot more metal. Hmm...
I'm afraid so, anything operated by TfL apart from the Woolwich ferry and the Silvertown Tunnel bike bus when it opens next month.
That's a bit hard on the cat...