« Let me be clear : the course designer belongs behind bars, because that last stage is just criminal. » [CycloWorld]

Le parcours, riche en dénivelé et en paysages, traverse l’Ardenne, la Famenne, et le Condroz. A l’assaut des côtes et ascensions les plus difficiles de Belgique, vous serez à la fois repoussés dans vos retranchements et émerveillés par les joyaux que la Conquête pourra vous offrir. En fonction du terrain et de la géographie des lieux, l’itinéraire peut se couper en quatre zones bien distinces, chacune avec ses propres types d’ascensions.

91 km – 1 770 hm

The Mise-en-Jambes is like the welcome drink. An introduction directly into the atmosphere with the Thier de Huy and its maximum slope of 17%, a good way to check if the 34-34 is well oiled.

The route then plunges gradually eastward to seek out hostilities one by one. An ideal warm-up before the main course that awaits you in the Hell of the Old Lady.

107 km – 2 500 hm

Quand on a pensé à l’itinéraire gargantuesque de la Conquête, un des objectifs était clairement de durcir la balade de Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Sur papier, la Doyenne des Classiques a tout pour plaire, mais la présence de trop nombreuses zones de transitions entre les ascensions est de nature à leur faire de l’ombre. Des bouts de vallées ou des faux plats sans grandes émotions. On présente donc ici l’Enfer, à partir de Spa, qui va nous imposer ses pentes terribles et variées à répétition, sans perdre de temps dans une vallée curative qui pourrait adoucir des mollets devenant raides.

For some of us, Zone 2 will be fun, like the Col du Rosier, for others, it will be indigestible, like the Thier de Coo. For an attempt within 24 hours, it is undoubtedly in the Hell of the Old Lady that you will know if the initiative still has a chance to bear fruit, or if the Old Lady has already cut you down, destroying any hope of being a Chasseur Ardennais. In any case, the Great Eddy, immortalized in his stone at the top of the Côte de Stockeu, will be there to encourage you to resist, and to go to the end. Because if you are there, day or night, it means that you are a Conqueror in the making... At the end of Zone 2, you will total more than 200 hilly kilometers and 4000m of elevation gain, with worn legs, to undertake the Great Traversée.

117 km – 1 850 hm

With its height ratio of 16m per kilometer, the Grande Traversée acts as a recovery area in this Conquest of the Ardennes. This is probably where you will need to find your second wind, after being forced to hit the breaker in the Old Lady's Hell.

Appetite comes with eating, so your appetite, after 200km of climbing, is at its peak at this time. That's good, because riding towards La Roche-en-Ardenne and its feudal castle will not be so easy. Hills sometimes easier, but still real hills. You will discover other conditions here, with parts more exposed to the wind than before. Climbing is good, but climbing with a headwind is better!

The Conquest is also a bit of sweetness. The opportunity to open your eyes wide, because you wander in the Deux Ourthes Natural Park and its majestic forests, you will get foot in the Famenne, and will end at the Condroz border along the Lesse. From the southernmost point of the route, let yourself slide quietly towards the Meuse area, before the last part of this Conquest.

If you haven't felt any cramps yet, expect them sometime soon. It's a fact and the numbers never lie: at this stage, if you started in Huy, you will have more than 320 km and 6000 EG.

141 km – 2 750 hm

KM 320. More than 30 climbs of all kinds in the legs. It burns. The Grande Traversée went well, but the hip balancer got rough. Pedaling was smooth 10 hours earlier, but is now starting to get angular with a lower cadence. However, there is still a site to be completed, a battle to be won. That of the Walls. A sawtooth battle.

The Meuse area offers this playground favourable to punchers: shorter but steeper climbs, while also having some more traditional hills in stock. Without going into details, Montagne de La Croix, Gayolle, 7 Meuses, Triple Mur de Monty, Mur de Huy,… will stand up as real ramparts in front of you. The phrase "be in front of wall" will take on its full meaning after a good fifteen hours of conquering plenty of ascensions.

We saved the best for last. The apotheosis. To end in style. This is here, this is now. The 34-34 has never been so useful. When you arrive on the roof of the Citadel, you can see the last bastion towards Huy. Only 50km remaining, in normal times this would be a formality. But beware, these 50km are tricky. Shark's teeth have not finished to consume you.