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Before the Houffalize World Cup, Fleche-Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Fred Dreier explores.

A ride through the region that will host a MTB World Cup and two road racing classics

Published: Apr. 18, 2008
The German Panther tank guards the entrance to Houffalize
The German Panther tank guards the entrance to Houffalize
Photo: Fred Dreier

Nazi artillery greeted me on my ride into Houffalize this morning. A German Panther tank sits near the center of the Belgian town that this Sunday hosts the opening round of the UCI mountain-bike World Cup. And to be honest, the sight of enemy armor didn’t faze me, not even while clad in lycra.

In the few days I’ve spent in the Ardennes region — which this week hosts the mountain bike World Cup, Fleche-Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege — I’ve grown accustomed to seeing guns, bombs, tanks and other military relics from the second World War.

Houffalize’s tank is mounted atop a concrete slab and flanked on either side by two 500-pound American bombs. Its 75mm gun aims ominously eastward, toward the country of its origin. The monument stands as a reminder of the bitter winter of 1944-45, when the town was swallowed in the Battle of the Ardennes, commonly called the “Battle of the Bulge” in America.

Houffalize was center stage during the battle, which saw nearly one million German soldiers engage an Allied force half that size. Germans attacked and overran American positions in the town shortly after first shots were fired on December 16. American and German bombardments leveled the city in the weeks afterward — the only original structure is its medieval parish church. Allied Generals Montgomery and Patton met in the destroyed town a month later to signal the end to the battle.

Patton even penned a lyric about the town.

O little town of Houffalize,
How still we see thee lie;
Above they steep and battered streets
The aeroplanes sail by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
Not any Goddamned light;
The hopes and fears of all thy years
Were blown to heel last night.

Ok, ok, I know that military history and bicycle racing don’t exactly go hand in hand. Perhaps the bicycle and tank are items of transportation best left separated.

The war memorial at Bastogne bears the names of all 50 U.S. states, and stands as a reminder of the town's defense.
The war memorial at Bastogne bears the names of all 50 U.S. states, and stands as a reminder of the town's defense.
Photo: Fred Dreier

But having spun my wheels through the Ardennes for the last few days, I have seen firsthand how important the history of the war is to the region. Hardly any town’s buildings older than 1945 remain intact. Standing tall in nearly every town square is a memorial to American soldiers killed here. Every restaurant and bar showcases old photos of bombed-out buildings or troops, and plenty of memorabilia. Huge bomb craters still sit unfilled on a hillside in Houffalize, a few feet from the cross-country course.

Even the tourists here are indicative of the war’s importance — their business keeps the region’s lucrative museum and historical societies open year round.

In the middle of an old battlefield, bike racing goes on...
In the middle of an old battlefield, bike racing goes on...
Photo: Fred Dreier

And on the eve of the Ardennes’ bike races, I believe it’s worth noting that Houffalize and much of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege course sits dead center in a region that saw one of the costliest military engagements in the bloodiest war in history. Many of the roads that cyclists race across today are the same ones used by the Germans to push through the Allied lines 64 years ago. The towns the races pass through — Houffalize, Stavelot and Malmedy, for example — were reduced to rubble in a few weeks.

At Bastogne, the race’s midpoint and feed zone, a sizable memorial and museum dominate the hillside overlooking the town. Inside is a detailed display recounting the Americans’ defense of the town, which held out despite being swarmed by advancing Germans and shelled into dust.

So why was the Ardennes the scene of such violence? Well, any number of books and Web sites can provide a more detailed summary of the battle, but for those not looking to open another browser window, here’s my extremely condensed version: After suffering a series of crushing defeats in France following D-day, the Germans retreated across Belgium and set up defenses on the country’s western border, with the Americans and British in hot pursuit.

A map from the battle showing the German advance toward the Meuse
A map from the battle showing the German advance toward the Meuse
Photo: Fred Dreier

Hitler’s plan was to mount a counterattack, break through the allied lines and seize the port of Antwerp, thus splitting the American and British forces. He mobilized whatever tanks and artillery remained in his crippled military, as well as 750,000 troops, many of them young boys and old men. Why the Ardennes? Well, the region’s thick forests could provide the cover the Nazis needed to plan their surprise. And Nazi intelligence knew that the region was protected by only a handful of American divisions, many of them filled with new recruits.

The Germans attacked on December 16, and while they never reached Antwerp — they stalled out on the banks of the Meuse river, roughly 20 miles south of Liege — they did catch the Allies off guard. For nearly 10 days the Germans pushed westward, creating a huge bulge in the lines. It took another month of fighting to eject the invading force, and when all was said and done, the cost was staggering. I’ve read estimates that put the German casualties at 100,000, and U.S. casualties at around 80,000 killed, wounded or injured.

The cost to the people of the Ardennes was crushing. German SS troops carried out terror raids on civilians, killing thousands. Still more perished in the explosions and flames that engulfed their towns.

But bicycle racing remained, even though the region had suffered nearly complete destruction. Fleche-Wallonne, which spins a circle around the area Hitler’s troops reached their furthest point east, kept rolling through every year of the war. Liege-Bastogne-Liege, first run in 1892, was put on hold in 1944, but returned in 1945, and has been held every year since. Houffalize debuted as a World Cup venue in 1992, and each year boasts the biggest crowds on the circuit.

So if you ever happen to make it to the Ardennes to watch its week of bicycle racing, be sure to leave some time to take a walk back in history. Visit a museum or memorial, and don’t forget to spot yourself a tank.

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