Editorial

Women with a punch!

The daunting and punishing slopes of the Mur de Huy are no less of a battleground for women riders. The cream of the women champions have taken the measure of this peerless ascent and relish it with the same appetite as the male bruisers.

The denouement, which most often starts as the final mile gets underway, plays out in a similarly tense atmosphere. And to achieve success on the Chemin des Chapelles, a degree of explosive power must also be added to the feminine mix.

This winning formula has now been taken on board and the genre's foremost specialists have thus broken through to claim a place at this prestigious encounter, now celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. By winning for the fourth time in 2011, Marianne Vos became undisputed queen of the race. But the Mur de Huy is still there for the taking.

Christian PRUDHOMME