Inspired by Fabian Cancellara’s attack on the Oude Kwaremont to win the Tour of Flanders? Want to pit yourself against the infamous Hellingen climbs of Belgium? Author Simon Warren has published a guide to the country’s toughest ascents.
Warren, the man behind the 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs book, has swapped British roads for the cobbles of Flanders and super-steep ascents of Wallonia for his latest guide. We’ve had a copy arrive in the post and it’s one of three books recently added to the RoadCyclingUK library.
Hellingen: A Road Cyclist’s Guide to Belgium’s Great Cycling Climbs outlines 50 must-ride ascents. The pocket guide is split into two sections, the first covering Flanders and featuring the climbs of the cobbled Classics, while the second section moves east to Wallonia and details many of the ascents found in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and La Fleche Wallonne.
Each climb comes with a detailed description, rating out of ten, fact file, map, profile and colour photograph. Ten out of ten ratings are reserved for the Muur-Kapelmuur, part of the Tour of Flanders course until 2012, the Mur de Huy, climbed three times in La Fleche Wallonne, and the brutally steep Col de Haussire.
The book, published by Frances Lincoln, is out now and costs £9.99.
Meanwhile, Fitter, Further, Faster: Get fit for sportives and road riding, calls itself a “complete guide to preparation for riding riding and sportive events”.
Written by Rebecca Charlton, Robert Hicks and Hannah Reynolds, and with a foreword by Movistar’s Alex Dowsett, the 192-page book, published by Bloomsbury for £18.99, is organised around a six-month timeline that details how to prepare for an event.
Finally, Great British Bike Rides by Dave Barter is, you guessed it, a guide to 40 of the best road rides in England, Scotland and Wales. The rides, which vary in length from 59 to 101 miles are accompanied by a detailed description, maps, climb profiles, key stats, turn-by-turn directions and colour photographs. GPS routes can also be downloaded from www.greatbritishbikerides.co.uk.
Great British Bike Rides is published by Vertebrate Publishing and costs £25.
