The Tour de France could be heading to the mythical cobbles slopes of the Muur van Geraardsbergen in 2019 when the race departs from Brussels to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Eddy Merck's first Tour victory.
In an interview with Sporza, Mayor of Geraardsbergen Guido De Padt confirmed he has been in talks with Tour organiser Christian Prudhomme about bringing the Tour to the cobbled climb famously used in the Tour of Flanders.
De Padt said, 'We spoke with organiser Christian Prudhomme and other great people, but also with Tour heroes like Poulidor and Thévenet, who were already looking forward to a possible Tour-passage on the Muur,'
'I have been in politics for 35 years and have never lobbied so heavily in sports terms to get something done.'
The climb featured on the Tour in 2004, albeit 130km away from the stage finish and therefore having little effect on the race outcome. If it was to potentially feature in 2019, De Padt said he would hope it came closer to the stage finish.
The climb itself is only 1km long but with an average gradient of 9.3% and maximum gradient of 19.8% on some of the sharpest cobbles in Flanders, the ascent to the famous church is amongst one of the most feared in professional cycling.
Its positioning within the Tour of Flanders has been experimented with in recent years, but it has previously been the deciding climb in previous editions, most notably in Fabian Cancellara's victory in 2010.
After not appearing in the race between 2012 and 2016 the Muur returned to the one-day Monument last year. Featuring fully 100km from the finish, it was nonetheless the scene of a pivotal attack from Quick-Step Floors and Team Sky that helped split the race, which proved one of the deciding factors in the eventual victory of Philippe Gilbert.