Wall of Geraardsbergen

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The wall in April 2006 during the women's tour of Flanders

The Wall of Geraardsbergen is an ascent to the Oudeberg within the Flemish town of Geraardsbergen , which is known primarily as an important section of the Tour of Flanders .

Street

The in Flemish as Muur van Geraardsbergen or Muur Kapelmuur , in French as Mur de Grammont known rise is a narrow, roughly paved road that by 2011 every year in April at the Tour of Flanders, one of the most famous classic one-day race of the cycling was traveled .

The road begins in the center of the village on the Dender River and initially climbs moderately for around 500 meters. Then the decisive part of the ascent, characterized by a characteristic left curve, overcomes a height difference of 44 meters over a length of 475 meters. The average gradient is 9.3%, the maximum gradient almost 20%.

The traditional cobblestones of the street were extensively renovated in 2003/04 for more than one million euros. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was present at the reopening of the road shortly before the 2004 Tour of Flanders .

History and meaning

The Muur was already part of the program of the Tour of Flanders in the early 1950s and 1970s. Most recently, the “Wall of Geraardsbergen” was the penultimate hill of the race until 2011, around 16 kilometers from the finish in Meerbeke , and was the climax of the classic. The last ascent of the Tour of Flanders until 2011 was the Bosberg, also located near Geraardsbergen . The most famous ascent of the classic alongside the Muur is the Koppenberg , which has only been used irregularly in recent years . The Geerardsbergen wall has not been on the program of the Tour of Flanders since 2012. When it was held in 2016 , it became part of the Tour of Flanders again.

The wall is also used in other Flemish cycling races, such as the first spring classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad . In 2004 a stage of the Tour de France ran over the ascent. In the 1st stage of the Tour de France 2019 , the climb was the first mountain classification of the tour.

Web links

Commons : Muur van Geraardsbergen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

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  1. ↑ Official website of the Tour of Flanders
  2. ↑ Peter Malaise: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012: aankomst in Oudenaarde, géén Muur van Geraardsbergen . Het Nieuwsblad , September 16, 2011, accessed June 18, 2016.

Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 21 ″  N , 3 ° 53 ′ 18 ″  E