Ronde van Vlaanderen Preview - The Hills Part One

Ronde van Vlaanderen - The Tour of Flanders. The second race in the World Cup series. What's so special about this race? It's the hills...

The hills of the Tour of Flanders come after the riders have already ridden approximately 130 kilometers - the final 120 km in this race begin with what you see below.

Here are the first nine climbs of the eighteen - with the hill name and number, the number of kilometers from the finish, the hill's length and grade. The profile indicates the kind of road surface: asphalt or cobbles, and there is information on the number of times the hill has been used in the Tour.

All graphics and images courtesy of Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Hill Specification
(Hill #:  Name, km from finish; length, grade)

Asphalt or Cobbles legend

Hill 1:  Grotenberg 119; 875m – Avg 3.8% - Max 7%

Part of the Tour: 1961-1964; 2001; 2004 (6 times).
Condition of the road: Asphalt

Hill 2: Rekelberg 107; 800m – Avg 4% - Max 9%

Part of the Tour: For the first time in the Tour 2004 (1 time).
Condition of the road: Narrow asphalt

Hill 3: Molenberg 103; 325m -  Avg 9.8% - Max 17%

Part of the Tour: 1983-1990; 1992-2004 (21 times).
Condition of the road: Narrow road of cobblestones

Hill 4: Wolvenberg 94; 800m – Avg 6.3% - Max 19%

Part of the Tour: 1999-2004 (6 times).
Condition of the road: Narrow asphalt.

Hill 5: Oude-Kwaremont 75; 2,200m – Avg 4.2% - Max 11%

Part of the Tour: 1974-2004 (31 times)
Condition of the road: First 600m narrow asphalt, then 1600m narrow cobblestoned road.

Hill 6: Paterberg  71; 400 m - Avg. 12,5% - Max. 20% -  400 m

Part of the Tour: 1986-2004 (19 times)
Condition of the road: New cobblestones since 1985.

Hill 7: Koppenberg 65; 600 m - Avg. 11,6% - Max. 22% -  600 m

Part of the Tour: 1976-1987; 2002-2004 (15 times)
Condition of the road: First 120m asphalt, then 430m narrow cobblestoned road, renewed in 2002.

Hill 8: Steenbeekdries 60; 700 m - Avg. 5,3% - Max. 6,7% - (  700 m )   

Part of the Tour: 2002-2004 (3 times)
Condition of the road: Cobblestoned road.

Hill 9: Taaienberg 57; 500 m - Avg. 9,5% - Max. 18% - 500 m

Part of the Tour: 1974-1992; 1994-2004 (30 times)
Condition of the road: narrow road of cobblestones.

To be continued...