Koppenberg cobbled cycling climb map

by Sidney van den Boogaard

Six hundred metres. That is all the Koppenberg is – but what a six hundred metres. From Melden near Oudenaarde you turn via the Steengat onto a narrow cobbled lane, and from there it averages nearly eleven percent, hitting 22 percent on the steepest pitch and even more on the inside of the bend. If one rider stalls, everyone behind is on foot. The cobbles have been a protected monument since 1995, and every 1 November cyclo-cross riders battle up here too. At the top, by the two farmhouses, the Flemish Ardennes roll away. For every flandrien who knows that suffering and joy mean the same thing here.

This work is part of the Legendary Climbs collection: the most famous climbs in road cycling, from the Alps and the Pyrenees to the short, steep hills of Flanders and Limburg. Each climb is drawn from the real road, with the elevation profile coloured per kilometre and, along the bottom, the length, elevation gain, average and maximum gradient and the summit.

The road is drawn from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors) and the profile from Copernicus elevation data (EU-DEM). A great gift for any cyclist, to hang next to the bike or as a goal for next season.