Hot on the heels of Sunday’s ‘Ardennes Week’ opener at the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Dangarsleigh brings the peloton into the New England Ardennes region proper on Saturday with everything kicking off at the Kingdom Hall at 2pm with a 34km handicap race like no other. La Flèche Dangarsleigh may not be the most prestigious of the classics, however, no other race – maybe with the notable exception of the Thunderbolt-Roubaix – has a finish as iconic as the one found in the least famous of the New England classics.

The early season one-day race pits riders against a collection of short but steep climbs, but the race is really known for one thing – the iconic steep slopes of the Mur de Mihi, whose demanding gradient practically guarantees that only an elite uphill specialist can cross the Flèche Dangarsleigh finish line first.

The Route

Riders will commence from the usual Dangarsleigh Rd start point on the edge of town at 2pm, however after 7.5km at the Monument they will return back to the start point before turning once more and heading straight out to the hill-top finish on the Mur.

This race is part of the official 2017 Road Racer of the Year competition with 10 points on offer to the first rider to crest the brutal sumit of the Mur.