Very few climbs in modern bike racing can still bring a bike racer to his knees. With the evolution of intelligent gearings, the steepest climbs have been tamed, well, as much as they can be. The Koppenberg, however, defies all technological advances and takes us back to a time when plodding upward on foot was just as common as pedaling.

Combining Belgian cobblestones with short steep climbs can mean only one thing in pro cycling... you're in Belgium and it's time for the Spring Classics.  Steeped in the history of bloody battles from WWI, cycling each of the legendary climbs throws up the combat of a much more peaceful kind, but with an emotional connection to a past we're cautioned to never forget. PEZ's Gord Cameron returned to the famous Kemmelberg to face some past demons and square up some unfinished business.

LBL is already history, but the news is still fresh, especially looking at the course and how the final kilometers played out to produce the first Spanish winner in history - it's even better to see who the riders themselves saw as contenders as well as fans and people in the know. Ed Hood was in the Ardennes a few days in advance of LBL and got hold of some interesting characters.

Liege-Bastogne-Liege closes out the Spring Classics, opening up a new part of the season with the Giro d'Italia only a short week away. La Doyenne, as she is reverently called, is the toughest and oldest of the Ardennes Week races - the oldest race of all in fact. This year's race looks to be a true classic in the making, PEZ takes a look at the course and the players.