Just a moment ago, everything looked like a family-friendly Sunday outing. We went through the forest on woodland paths, across a clearing, and up a gentle ascent to a small hilltop. But now the trail suddenly starts descending almost vertically, between dense conifers and moss-covered rocks and around a tight bend. A network of gnarled roots covers the forest floor, and a rock wall opens up into a yawning ravine. For Sunday cyclists, this might be the end of the road, but Arne Janssens speeds down the path at breakneck speed without batting an eyelid. He has ridden this section dozens of times, but one thing now is new: it has recently been added to the route of the Stoneman Arduenna, a long, circular tour through the Belgian Ardennes.
Arne Janssens, who lives in Schönberg near Sankt Vith, is one of Belgium's leading up-and-coming mountain bike talents. Since 2017, this 20-year-old has been riding for Team Merida-Wallonie, and his ambition is to make the leap from amateur to professional. On his training circuits, he has already explored every trail, every path through the forests and over the mountain ranges between the Signal de Botrange in the High Fens in the north of East Belgium and Ouren in the southeast. "The greatest thing about biking for me is the freedom – you just jump on your bike and explore," says Arne.
And the Stoneman, says its inventor, South Tyrolean mountain bike pro Roland Stauder, is all about that: a sporting adventure in a beautiful landscape. Performance and technique are secondary. The original Stoneman in the Dolomites was followed by routes in Germany, Switzerland and Austria – and now in Belgium. The tours differ in terms of landscape: each has its own character and special charm. But all five have one thing in common: they are a real challenge, even for professionals.