Rainbows in the Mud by Paul Maunder

Author:Paul Maunder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

12

Storming the Citadel

Going to a cyclocross race can be a very dark and lonely experience, particularly when you have to leave your warm hotel room before dawn and walk up to the Citadel of Namur.

Deep in the Belgian Ardennes, Namur is the political centre of Wallonia and one of the few cities in the region to give an impression of affluence. The city stands at the meeting of two rivers, the Meuse and the Sambre, and has a bustling centre full of boutiques, independent bookshops, cafés and restaurants. On this last weekend before Christmas there’s a market, an ice-skating rink, and many stalls selling Liège waffles. All shut at this hour, of course, as I trudge through the sleeping streets towards the river. Underneath glittering street decorations, past street cleaners atop lumbering machines, I take the Rue du Pont over the Sambre. The Citadel of Namur looms in front of me, impenetrable and forbidding, for all its artful spotlights. I suppose ‘forbidding’ works for a castle. Dating back to ad 937, the citadel has seen several facelifts over the centuries, but the current layout – protected as a heritage site – was constructed between 1631 and 1675. Given the history of Belgium, there’s some irony in the fact that during this period the city was under Dutch control. Now its extensive fortifications, buildings, tunnels and ramparts are a major tourist attraction. And every year on the Sunday before Christmas it’s the venue for a cyclocross Classic.

Rather than follow the circuitous route designated for competitors’ vehicles, I take a smaller, closed road and begin climbing the hill. The road bends up the hill in a series of S-bends, steadily gaining height. The forest on either side is dark and silent. There is no sign of a bike race. No traffic either. I begin to doubt if I’m in the right place.

In the two weeks since I went to Overijse for Druivencross there have been races at Mol and Spa-Francorchamps – the latter was particularly notable for its heavy mud conditions and horribly steep run-ups and descents. Helen Wyman and Nikki Harris, both lovers of a heavy course with lots of running, battled out the win, with Wyman overhauling Harris on the last lap. Both women went very deep as they sprinted up to the finish line on the tarmac of the motor-racing circuit. The race at Spa is relatively new to the calendar, and with Spa being situated in Wallonia, for the Superprestige series it’s practically an international race. It’s admirable that the organisers, Golazo, are trying to broaden their series from the very localised success of Flanders. Erwin Vervecken, former World champion and now race organiser for Golazo, tells me that the business model for races in Wallonia is more marginal because the income from ticket sales and VIPs is lower than in Flanders. Even though Spa is no further from Brussels than Koksijde is, there is a perception among Flandrian fans that Spa is somehow further away.

There were more

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