From Brussels we roll out through the busy Flemish countryside towards the iconic Muur Geraardsbergan, a cobbled climb made famous by the Flemish Classics, whose gradient reaches 20% at its steepest. Then, after tackling the lesser Bosberg, we’ll turn south, and follow flatter (and smoother) roads through Enghien and Charleroi, passing the site of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo (you can choose whether to doff your cap/helmet to Napoleon or Abba) before re-entering Brussels via Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Eddy Merckx’s childhood home. In 2019 the flags will be out for Eddy, it being 50 years since he first won the maillot jaune in the 1969 Tour.
