Huy
198 km
Wednesday 21 April
Charleroi: a land of cycling, passion and hope
In Charleroi, cycling is a time-honoured passion. The biggest city in Wallonia and the third largest in Belgium (with a population of 200,000) has great respect for cycling and the slaves to the road. The Tour de France, Tour of Italy, Grand Prix de Wallonie and the Flèche Wallonne have all written pages of their history in this city. Probably because the Carolos (the nickname for the Caroloregiens, as the inhabitants of Charleroi are known) one day caught the cycling bug from a young age, the tradition is still alive today. Pioneers such as Pino Cerami and Ferdinand Bracke can rest assured: young talented riders are taking their places behind the handlebars, ensuring the continuity of cycling in Charleroi. Hosting the Flèche Wallonne is also a way of paying them a well-deserved tribute.
Huy: the wall, a summit in itself!
AS one of the main tourist centres in the Meuse basin, Huy boasts many natural treasures and can be proud of its rich heritage. In the town centre, colourful terraces, eye-catching shops, shady parks and lively pedestrian streets are an invitation to enjoy a taste of the town’s warmth. Festive, cultural and sporty, Huy boasts a remarkable calendar of events. The Condroz-Huy Rally, the fair on 15th August, many festivals and exhibitions, as well as the end of year festivities focused around the open air ice rink at Grand-Place punctuate the year, just like the Flèche Wallonne, whose finishing line set up residence here in 1984; to the utmost delight of thousands of cycling enthusiasts, but to the dread of the pack, condemned to suffer in order to tame the 19% gradient of the famous Mur de Huy (wall of Huy) climb.
