Another famous Belgian cobblestone climb is the Koppenberg. The name comes from kinderkoppen, or children's heads, as cobblestones are known in Flemish. That's a nice piece of imagery.
The iconic hill has been used in Ronde van Vlaanderen over 20 times since the mid 1970s, though it was excluded for 15 years after the race commissarie's car ran over race leader Jesper Skibby's tire after the cyclist had fallen. Oops. The Koppenberg stretches for 600 meters with 77 meters of elevation gained and average and maximum gradients of 11.6% and 22%, respectively.
Amateur cyclists can compare their climbing times to the pros as the bottom and top of the Koppenberg are clearly marked.
It starts off gently for the first few meters.
But it gets steep pretty quickly. Good thing the livestock is there to cheer you on.
Looking downhill from the steepest section.
And then suddenly, mercifully, the cobblestones and climb end.
From the Koppenberg, we drove to Oudenaarde, where the Ronde van Vlaanderen has finished since 2012. Oudenaarde is home to the race's museum.
It was a Monday so the museum was closed but fortunately they keep lots of good stuff in their windows, like cobblestones with the names of every winner in the Ronde's history.
This is also the home of Fabian Cancellara's fan club. The day after he won the Ronde this past April, he poured beers at the museum's bar for his fans.
I'm guessing the spaghetti Boononaise was a popular dish after Boonen's 2012 victory.
