Paterberg cobbled climb map

by Sidney van den Boogaard

No run-up, no mercy: the Paterberg heads straight up the hillside from the very first metre. The narrow Paterbergstraat is barely 360 metres long, yet it averages over twelve percent, with a steepest pitch of twenty, all on cobbles protected since 1993. There is nowhere to recover: the moment you turn onto it, you are in the red. Since 2012 it has been the final climb of the biggest Flemish spring classic, the last judge after the Oude Kwaremont. At the top, where it meets the Stooktestraat, the Flemish Ardennes roll away all around. For riders who like their pain short and sharp – and on the wall.

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.