La Doyenne ("The Oldest") runs in the Ardennes region of Belgium from Liege to Bastogne and back. Amateur cyclists were given the opportunity to ride one of the five 'Monuments' of the European professional road-racing calendar the day before the professionals tackled what is dubbed arguably the toughest of all the classics in horrendous weather conditions.

Double rainbow in The Ardennes

Essentials:
Entry fee: EUR 20, 25, 30 depending on distance
Distances: 82km, 156km, 271km
Start/Finish: Sports Complex, 83 Boulevard Philippet, Naimette-Xhovémont, Liege
Timed: Yes
Participants: Around 4060 on the day
Feedstops: dependent on route, between 2 and 5
Signs: A3 Black arrows on luminous yellow background

Having ridden The Etape for the last 4 years including both Acts last year, I decided that I wanted a change of scenery this year and noted with interest when A.S.O announced last year that they would be promoting this years Liege-Bastogne-Liege Challenge. Building on the success of mass participation events such as The Etape Du Tour this year's event was promoted by A.S.O and once again organised by local partners Gonzalo Sport.

Registering for the event involved filling in an online registration form and paying the required entry fee. With a maximum fee of 30 Euros I thought this offered excellent value although beware the event website does not yet have an English translation but I muddled my way through.

Chocolate bunnies

After investigating travel options including the train and flights, catching the Ferry offered by far the cheapest option at less than £40, crossing from Dover to Dunkirk and probably offered the most practical in terms of flexibility. It also meant not having to run the gauntlet with any low cost carrier baggage handlers and gave me the opportunity to fill the car up with Belgium chocolate and beer on the return leg. Rather than going for just the weekend we decided to tack on a couple of extra days at the start to visit the pretty city of Bruges and break the driving up although the distances aren't far.

Riding 162 miles with nearly 5000m of climbing in April is something I haven't done before and was certainly a daunting prospect but I contented myself that there was always the medium route which at nearly 100 miles with over 2500m should suffice as an adequate challenge if training didn't go as expected.

I received my event confirmation email as expected one week before and after filling the car with all manner of cycling paraphernalia we made the slightly lumpy crossing from Dover to Dunkirk followed by the short drive of about an hour into Belgium to Bruges.

Liege city centre

Liege is around 3 hours from Dunkirk; two from Bruges and the drive is fairly straightforward. We arrived on Friday afternoon and stayed in the Ramada Plaza situated near the centre of town. I was particularly excitable on arrival as two turquoise team Astana buses and several cars adorned the hotel car park.

Astana vehicles

The city situated beside the River Meuse became the boomtown of Belgium's industrial revolution and evidence of this industrialisation still heavily exists today. However as Liege counts down the start to the Tour de France in June regeneration appears to be giving parts of the city a face-lift in the form of new shops and restaurants. I also noted with apprehension how hilly the city appeared to be.

Registering the day before

Finding the event head quarters took longer than anticipated and in hindsight probably wasn't within walking distance from the hotel. This area of Liege contains steep cobbled streets and offers beautiful gardens, sometimes open to the public. On a gloomy wet Friday afternoon I picked up my event pack from the Sports Complex at Naimette-Xhovémont and on enquiring whether the weather would improve was greeted with a shrug of the shoulders and told to bring waterproofs.

Entry pack

Shortly after 5am I hauled myself out of bed, forced down a banana sandwich and some fruitcake and made my way in the wet, cold and dark to 'Le Depart' for the 0630 start. The HQ was a hive of activity as cars lined the nearby streets as riders prepared bikes and put on as many layers as they could muster.

Early morning registration

Most people registered on the morning of the ride but smart organisation at the sport complex where the sportive starts and finishes meant that by, 7am, I was plunging down into Liege in a quickly formed peloton as riders followed the arrows of the 'neutralised section' before we were on to the first leg stretcher of the day as the pace increased along with my heart rate all the way up to 180.

The roads continued to roll up and down broken by the very occasional traffic light as we left Liege behind, the city still sleeping making our way towards Bastogne with the rain lashing down.

Groups form at the start of the day

It wasn't long before my hands and feet had gone numb but thankfully I was tucked into a large group the majority of whom are Italian. There is a great feeling to riding in a big bunch with cyclists from a variety of different nationalities all with a similar goal and love of cycling.

Well-stocked feed station

There wasn't much talking as we meandered our way over the 'roof' of Belgium at a fairly brisk pace arriving at the first feed stop at around 50km. I was feeling pretty good and delighted by the sight of food although a hot cup of tea would have been heavenly on a day like this. Shortly after this the route split for those tackling the 156km route.

The first climb of the day comes at 81km, the Cote de la Roche-en-Ardenne and I was horrified to learn that this climb ramps up to 10%. I dreaded to think what lay ahead as the group of riders began to splinter as we continued to Bastogne and the next ravitaillement.

I was finding out the hard way that Belgium certainly isn't flat. The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian mountain range. The roads are long and winding almost alpine in style and as the weather broke momentarily I reflected what a nice place it would be to come and visit properly.

The majority of the climbing comes within the last 90km of the ride taking in no less than nine climbs. On to the Col du Rosier which ramps up to 12% in places and runs for 4500m the rain started to fall again and I really began to wonder whether I would make it to the end in one piece.

Linking up with a small bunch of riders afterwards we tackled the Col du Maquisard with another standard 10% gradient. I spoke with one local who once discovered I was English looked at me and remarked, "You have come all the way from England to cycle in the rain? You must be crazy"

Mont Theux was definitely a low point as hail poured down stinging my face. Two extremely steep sections reminded me of the lower slopes of Alpe d'Huez as traffic rattled past on the busy road that didn't aid matters.

Belgian cycling fuel

The final feed stop was a welcome sight and was inundated with riders who had obviously taken on one of the shorter courses. The rain also stopped and the sun even came out as I treated myself to a waffle from the great selection of goodies on offer.

The famous La Redoute

Next up was La Redoute, which is probably the most famous of climbs on the route. Despite the poor weather it was still buzzing, riders could almost be at Le Tour, with camper vans and banners lining the roadside as supporters cheered on riders. There was also a healthy amount of graffiti on the road, a reminder that Philippe Gilbert hails from this part of the world.

Yours truly (at the front) on the Cote-de la-Roche-aux-Faucons

With the end in sight two more climbs follow as riders weave their way through the industrial outskirts of Liege with the official race arrows being the only reassurance that we were still on track for the finish. With the St Nicolas climb approaching, this turned out to be a quite extraordinary climb through narrow residential streets. A handful of the parked cars look roadworthy but most don't. I thought what a way to finish such a race. After the lush beauty of the Ardennes, the urban grime and poverty adds a real sense of drama as well as the 13% gradient.

The Finish line

Over the top and the 6km Arrivee sign was a welcome relief but not before one final blast of hail and a cheeky final unmarked climb, a one-kilometre uphill finish that is extremely hard to spot on TV back to the Sports Complex where it all started at what seemed an eternity a go.

Riders scrummage for a t-shirt

On crossing the finishing line I received my finishers medal and Rapha musette and t-shirt. Riders sheltered under cover eating chips and drinking beer. I had a quick word with the lady on the BMC stand who assured me Big Phil likes the weather like this before heading back to the hotel in search of team Astana to tell them what is in store for them the following day.

Finisher

I really enjoyed my foray into The Ardennes and thought it was a worthy alternative to Le Etape Du Tour although not on closed roads. Despite the terrible weather the event was really well organised and offered excellent value for the entry fee. Cycling the route the day before the professionals was a real highlight and a fitting end to the Classics season. I will definitely be back.