Koppenberg, Kwaremont, Paterberg: the Flanders finale in 27 km

The Tour of Flanders is decided on a handful of short, cobbled hills south of Oudenaarde, and three of them are the most famous of all: the Koppenberg, the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg. This loop links them in 27 km from the town where the race finishes. It has only about 210 m of climbing, but the steepest metres reach 22% on wet, rounded stones, and there is nothing like it anywhere else. Here is how each berg rides, how to get up them without walking, and how to train for them indoors.

The three bergs

Our track leaves Oudenaarde southwards and takes the Koppenberg first, after about 4 km. It then runs west to the Oude Kwaremont at around 12 km and turns back over the Paterberg two kilometres later, before the flat run home. On the route card the climbs look gentle, because a one-kilometre average smooths out a 600-metre wall. The real figures, from the UCI, look very different.

• Koppenberg: 600 m at 11.6%, maximum 22%. Short, cobbled and the steepest of the three. It is the one where riders walk: when it was first included in the race in 1976, only the first five riders rode all the way up, and Eddy Merckx had to walk the steepest part. Being forced off by someone stopping in front of you is the most common way to fail here.
• Oude Kwaremont: 2.2 km of cobbles at 4%, maximum 11%. The longest of the three, climbing 93 m to 111 m at the top. The UCI notes that the first 600 m are the easier part and the next 500 m are the toughest, on the roughest surface. After that it drags on, gently, for longer than seems fair.
• Paterberg: 360 m at 12.9%, maximum 20.3%. Short and brutal. Until 1986 it was an unpaved farm track; when the Kluisbergen council planned to asphalt it, a local farmer suggested cobbles instead, according to the UCI. Coming two kilometres after the Kwaremont, it hits tired legs.

How to ride the cobbles

None of these climbs lasts more than a few minutes, and most of the loop is flat. What decides it is how you ride the stones, not how strong you are for an hour.

• Stay seated on the steep parts. Stand on the Koppenberg and your rear wheel spins, especially in the wet. Sit back, keep your weight over the back wheel and pedal round, not down. Seated vs standing explains the trade-off.
• Hold a steady cadence. A gear you can turn at 70–80 rpm keeps traction better than grinding at 50. A 34×32 is not too low for the Koppenberg if you are not a racer. See gearing for climbing.
• Find the crown, or the gutter. The middle of the road is usually the smoothest line; the edges are sometimes smoother still, but they collect mud. Look ahead and pick your line early.
• Drop your tyre pressure. Wider tyres at lower pressure grip and roll better on cobbles. Tyre pressure for cyclists has a starting point.
• Pace for minutes, not hours. Each berg is a short maximal effort, close to the limit for two to eight minutes. Ride the flat roads between them easily so you can go hard when the stones start.

Why these three

These are the climbs on which the modern race is won. The Tour of Flanders' own history records Fabian Cancellara leaving Peter Sagan and Jürgen Roelandts behind on the Paterberg to win in 2013, Mathieu van der Poel riding solo from the Koppenberg to victory in Oudenaarde in 2024, and Tadej Pogačar deciding the 2026 race on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. That win was his third, making him a joint record holder with seven other riders.

The Koppenberg's place in the race has moved over the years. The UCI notes that it was once placed 185 km from the finish, in 2006, before it was moved to the final part of the race, where it is often decisive.

When to go, and what to watch for

• Start at the Tour of Flanders Centre. Toerisme Oost-Vlaanderen's Routen site lists three signposted Tour of Flanders loops from Oudenaarde: blue at 80.4 km, yellow at 102.0 km and red at 115.8 km. Our 27 km loop is the short version for a morning, or a warm-up before one of those.
• The sportive. We Ride Flanders, the organiser's mass ride, starts on the Market Square in Oudenaarde and finishes under the arch on Minderbroedersstraat, the day before the race. The organiser lists the next one for Saturday 3 April 2027.
• Wet stones. Cobbles are slippery in rain and after it, and mud on the stones makes it worse. On a wet day, walking the steepest part is no shame.
• These are public roads. They are narrow and shared with local traffic. Be ready to stop and give way.
• More bergs. Our cycling in Flanders guide covers the rest of the Flemish Ardennes and where to stay.

Ride it in Moveee Indoor

The route on this page is the real loop from Oudenaarde over the three bergs, with its height at every point. In Moveee Indoor your smart trainer reproduces the gradient as you ride, so the flat roads stay easy and the hills come at you in the same order they do in April. The world around you is built from map data of the real place. What it trains is the rhythm of the Ronde: easy, then a few minutes flat out, then easy again, which is very different from a long Alpine climb.

Ride it as a hard session with an easy spin between the climbs, and save the ride so you can compare your power on each berg from week to week. Prefer your own device? Download the GPX above and load it into any app that rides GPX files.

The short version

27 km from Oudenaarde over the Koppenberg (600 m, up to 22%), the Oude Kwaremont (2.2 km of cobbles) and the Paterberg (360 m, up to 20.3%). Stay seated, keep your cadence up and pick your line early. Ride the flat roads easily so you can go hard on the stones, and practise the rhythm on your trainer before you go.