Well, on Sunday the 24th of April we (Erwin joined us to see the race) picked up my father around 7am at his house. I decided to drive to La Roche-en Ardennes to watch the professional cyclists on their trip to Bastogne on the Côte de Ortho. It's better to watch the cyclists coming up on a hill as they loose some speed during the climb and you have more time to watch. I had a kind of deja-vu as I had driven the very same road one week ago. We left in time as I thought there was a chance that the traffic around Liège would be rather busy as the start of the race is in Liège. But no such thing, traffic was very low on our way down. When we arrived at La Roche-en Ardennes we went to a Supermarket to buy some food and also to a Boulangerie (bakery) where they sell pastry. We sat down next to the Ourthe river and enjoyed our brunch. The weather was actually quite good and a lot better than was predicted. the sun was even shining.
Then Erwin guided us through the town to get us to the Côte de Ortho. We parked the car and decided to go for a small walk. I asked a cyclist coming down if this was the right place to watch the race. And of course it was. Erwin is a good map reader ! We talked for some time with this cyclist, who was Dutch by the way. After some time the commercial part of the race (it is organized by the same organization who organizes the Tour de France) passed by. They were throwing T-shirts at the public. But unfortunately we were standing on the wrong side of the road to catch one. I suggested to Erwin to cross the street and he did manage to catch a Cap and some tubes that you can inflate with air and wave with. I think we have waited for 1 1/2 hour before the first cyclists arrived. We could see them coming from far. Just four of them in a group that was ahead of the main group. One of them was Stefan Wesemann from T-mobile. I of course took some pictures. Then again waiting. Yes, the main part of such a day is waiting (3 hours) and driving (4 hours) and that for less than half an hour of spectacle. we estimated that the group of four were about 10 minutes or so ahead of the main group. And when the main group arrived I again took some pictures of course.
When the main group had passed we took some sandwiches. It was now half past one and all the people who were there to watch the race need to leave via the same small roads. Even when we finished eating it was still busy with traffic. My father said that he would watch the traffic while I would drive backwards on to the main road. Actually he did more than that :-) He just stepped on to the main road raised his hand indicating that the cars should wait. And he allowed me to get on the road easily. I really had to laugh how he did that. But it certainly was very helpful.
From La Roche-en-Ardennes we drove via the Côte de Samreé to Baraque de Fraiture. Yes, indeed the very same climb that counts for the BIG. But I didn't bring my bike with me this time, it's too much hassle. And besides that, we were there to watch the cycling not to cycle ourselves ! We passed the Dutch cyclist on his way up on the Côte de Samreé. Erwin turned his window down and cheered when we passed. From Baraque de Fraiture Erwin guided us on to Stavelot via Règné, Sart, Salm Chateau, Vielsalm to Grand Halleux.
In Grand Halleux we saw the commercial part of the race just in front of us. And we drove on the very same road that the cyclists would use later on ! That means we drove up the Côte de Wanne even. And that is indeed also a nice and steep Côte. See the height profile on the right. It's that steep that I was considering to wait for the cyclists here rather than in Stavelot.
But
finally I decided to drive on to Stavelot to the Côte de Stockeu.
This Côte is tougher than the Côte de Wanne even as you can see from the height profile
on the right-hand side. In fact it's the second toughest climb in
Belgium after the Côte de Haussire(SW).
And on top of
this Côte there is a statue for the famous Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx. He has
won Liège - Bastogne - Liège 5 times as well as the Tour de France ! And he won
numerous other races too. So when we Arrived at Stavelot we parked the car and
walked up to the top to the statue. This is also good as my father gets a
better feeling of the steepness of this climb. He knows next time when he
sees the cyclists on television how tough it is for them. After we visited the
statue we walked downhill to find a spot where we could watch the race again. We
could follow what was going on as there was a motorcycle that was part of the organization
and we could hear the radio messages describing the race.
This time we could hear the helicopters, opposed to la Roche-en-Ardennes, and that's a good indication that the race is coming closer to us. My father got excited again and was on the lookout to spot the cyclists first. He was really enjoying the spectacle. The head group of 4 cyclists had split by now and there were only two of them had to let go on the Côte de Wanne. And even the main group came up in bits and pieces. The race was taking shape now ! We cheered when Michael Boogert passed by as he's Dutch and has a chance to win this race. My father had never seen his heroes from such a close range. You can touch them even, it's that close.
???
from the Rabobank team
Michael Boogert
(Became 3rd in this edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège)
We discussed if we would try to pick up the race on a third spot but decided not to go for that. Instead we had a Gauffer with Coffee in Stavelot. This to conclude a nice and sunny day in the Ardennes.
The drive back went smooth again. Erwin guided us on to the Motorway and then it's a piece of cake. Around Maastricht we had some delay due to the traffic. And we were back in Oisterwijk around 7pm again. There we watched the end of the race on video as I had taped the race. We could even see Erwin on television, from the back tough, on the Côte de Stockeu.