page_title: Tour of Flanders
section_title: The climbs
hierarchical_section_title: Tour of Flanders / Race characteristics / The climbs
caption_attribution_description: English: The Koppenberg, from the bottom of the hill.
context_page_description: The Tour of Flanders, also known as De Ronde, is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organized by Flanders Classics. Its nickname is Vlaanderens Mooiste. First held in 1913, the Tour of Flanders had its 100th edition in 2016.
  Today it is one of the five monuments of cycling, together with Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Giro di Lombardia. It is one of the two major Cobbled classics, anticipating Paris–Roubaix, which is on the calendar one week after the Tour of Flanders. The event had its only interruptions during World War I and has been organized without hiatus since 1919, the longest uninterrupted streak of any cycling classic.
  Six men hold the record of most victories, making the Tour of Flanders unique among the major classics. Belgians Achiel Buysse, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen, Italian Fiorenzo Magni and Swiss Fabian Cancellara each have three victories.
  Since 2004, a women's race, the Tour of Flanders for Women, is organized annually on the same day as the men's but on a shorter distance.
context_section_description: The short, sharp hills in the Flemish Ardennes are a defining feature of the Ronde and the places where spectators gather in vast numbers to see the race. In recent editions 17 to 19 of these hills are included in the route, although the number is subject to change as some climbs are cut and others included almost every year. Each climb has its own characteristics that present different challenges to the riders. The Kwaremont, is 2.2 km but relatively shallow. The Paterberg is short and, at 20 percent, brutally steep. The Koppenberg in Melden is the steepest hill of the race at 22 percent with a bad, very uneven cobbled surface. Its road is also extremely narrow and the high banking on either side turns it into a natural arena. Other famous climbs include the Eikenberg, Molenberg and Taaienberg.
  The Koppenberg has been dropped some years because it was deemed too difficult and too dangerous. Particularly when wet weather had made the cobbles slippery, it was hard for riders to take the steep slopes all the way riding. One rider falling could bring many others down and, in turn, halt those behind, who often had to shoulder their bikes and run up the remainder of the hill. In 1984 only two riders – Phil Anderson and Jan Raas – got to the top on their bikes. In 1987 Danish rider Jesper Skibby slipped and fell on the slick cobbles, before being run over by an official's car who tried to pass him. The climb was subsequently banned from the Tour of Flanders for the next 15 years.
  The Koppenberg returned in 2002 after its surface was repaved. It was briefly dropped in 2007 but was included again in 2008 after the city of Oudenaarde had renovated it. It is now a permanent part of the course. Following cars are diverted before the foot of the climb to avoid chaos.
  In 2015, the 19 climbs were:
  Climb statistics:
  Kluisberg: Buissestraat, Bergstraat, Kluisbergen-Ruien. Climbs 66m from 27m to 93m. Maximum 11 per cent. First climbed 1955
  Molenberg: Molenberg, Zwalm. Climbs 32m from 24m to 56m. Maximum 17 per cent. First climbed 1983.
  Oude Kwaremont: Broekstraat, Kwaremontplein, Schilderstraat, Kluisbergen. Climbs 93m from 18m to 111m. Maximum 11 per cent. First climbed 1974.
  Koppenberg: Steengat, Koppenberg, Oudenaarde-Melden. Climbs 64m from 13m to 77m; Maximum 25 per cent at inside of bend, otherwise 22 per cent. First climbed 1976.
  Taaienberg: Taaienberg, Maarkedal-Etikhove. Climbs 45m from 37m to 82m. Maximum 18 per cent. First climbed 1974.
  Berg ter Stene: Stene, Horebeke. Climbs 68m from 32m to 100m. Maximum 9 per cent. First climbed 1957
  Leberg: Leberg, Brakel-Zegelsem. Climbs 39m from 60m to 9m. Maximum 15 per cent. First climbed 1977
  Berendries: Berendries, Brakel-Sint-Maria-Oudenhove. Climbs 65m from 33m to 98m. Maximum 14 per cent. First climbed 1983
  Valkenberg: Valkenbergstraat, Brakel-Nederbrakel. Climbs 53m from 45m to 98m. Maximum 15 per cent. First climbed 1959
  Muur-Kapelmuur: Abdijstraat, Ouderbergstraat, Oudeberg, Geraardsbergen. Climbs 77m from 33m to 110m. Maximum 20 per cent. First climbed 1950
  Bosberg: Kapellestraat, Geraardsbergen-Moerbeke. Climbs 40m from 65m to 105m. Maximum 11 per cent. First climbed 1975.
  Tenbosse: Olifantstraat, Brakel. Climbs 28m from 45m to 73m. Maximum 14 per cent. First climbed 1997
caption: The Koppenberg seen from the foot in Melden
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