Wout van Aert traveled to the Belgian Ardennes this weekend. On Saturday, he won the Houffa Gravel, a 110-kilometer gravel race in Houffalize. He finished a remarkable 9 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher, Daan Soete.
He attributed his strong performance on the gravel trails to a kind of mini altitude training camp. Despite Signal de Botrange, the highest point in the Ardennes, being only 694 meters in altitude, visitors staying in the upper rooms of the new Taeru sports hotel in Erezée have the opportunity to experience a simulated altitude of up to 5,000 meters!
Taeru is Belgium’s first altitude hotel and offers 9 altitude rooms with double beds. The desired altitude can be set using an oxygen saturation meter. This way, athletes experience the same atmospheric pressure as during a “real” altitude training session in the mountains.
The hotel can accommodate 43 people (18 of whom can sleep in high-altitude rooms). Taeru also offers a fitness room, gym, massage room, ice bath, 25-meter pool, and a room for bike repair or cleaning.
Outside, there’s a cyclocross course with a sandpit and technical descents. The area is a paradise for cyclists, mountain bikers, runners, and hikers.
In addition to Wout van Aert, other professional cyclists like Aimé De Gendt, Loïc Vliegen, and Rune Herregodts have also used the facilities.
