In the Netherlands, it is often searching for enough gradient to get some climbing kilometres in the legs. Of course, in Valkenburg well, and if you ride the Amstel Gold Race routes you'll definitely end up with a nice number. For the better training work (and also the slightly longer climbs, so you can really work on your VO2max) you should head to our southern neighbours. Nice cycling in the Ardennes. Who wouldn't want that? But where is the best place to go? A spoiler: you won't find the Stockeu and La Redoute in this list. Those are fun for on the bucket list, but as training it's just too extreme.
By: Sander Kolsloot
Le Rosier - Spa/Coo
This is perhaps the most beautiful climb in the Ardennes. It is certainly not tough, but you can climb here (with a bit of puzzling) for 8 kilometres, including hairpin bends! Unprecedented, you might say. The ideal training climb starts from Spa, is 6.8 kilometres long and is very gradual in terms of gradient (4.8% average with a max of 7.1%). Good to test yourself and with this length, as an amateur you will soon be on the road for 20 minutes to 30 minutes anyway. Advantage is if you take the route from Spa and descend towards Coo, you can make a nice stop to recover at the beautiful Le Coffee Ride
Cote d'Hives - La Roche
If you want to have a nice choice of routes and different altitude profiles, then base La Roche-en-Ardenne comes highly recommended. You can climb Le Haussire here in several variations, where all are actually quite painful. Fortunately, there are also some friendlier alternatives, such as the Cote d'Hives.
This 4-kilometre pustule with a gradient of 4.8 per cent is a good climb to ride. Starting from La Roche, you can really qualify this climb as a nice runner. At a speed of 15 per hour, you'll be on the road for 15 minutes anyway. And that's just right.
Cote de Samree - La Roche
Another nice one in La Roche. Yes, we put this climb on this list, despite the fact that there is a lot of traffic. In fact, the climb is a nice long runner, of 14 kilometres. This is actually about the first 7.5 kilometres, which average about 5-6%. After that, it flattens out considerably and you have a long stretch of basically false flat. That's nice to keep the legs energised, shall we say. From La Roche, you climb almost all the way to Baraque Fraiture. This climb is also often in the Sean Kelly Classic and you sometimes pick up a stretch in the Velomediane Criquelion
La Vecquee - Stoumont
The main reason we put this climb on the list is actually not the climb, but the descent! It's clear, wide and you can work on your skills nicely. If you want to cycle the whole climb, you really should start at Restaurant Port de la Lienne. From there it goes up nicely, although it is a bit busier here. After all, it is the through road. In Stoumont, you turn onto the final climb and that's also where the trickiest part is. You can combine this climb nicely with a climb of the Rosier, if you take the variant from Spa, for example. Then you combine the best of both worlds: nice climb, nice descent, bucket list check and also have a coffee at a cool place.
Want to know more?
Do you also want to enjoy cycling in the Ardennes? Soon we will come up with an overview of the toughest climbs in the Ardennes. So if you actually miss the Stockeu, you can probably find it there. Meanwhile, there is more info on the site of the tourist office of Wallonia and on our komoot account.
