The Muur van Geraardsbergen ( English: ''Wall of Geraardsbergen/Grammont'', French: ''Mur de Grammont'') is a steep, narrow road with cobblestones in

Geraardsbergen Geraardsbergen (; ) is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen proper and the follo ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hill starts near the river

Dender The Dender () or Dendre () is a long river in Belgium, the right tributary of the river Scheldt. The confluence of the two rivers is in the Belgian town of Dendermonde. The Western or Little Dender is long and begins in Barry near Leuze-en-Hain ...

at 18 m and reaches the top of the Oudenberg at 110 m after 1,075 m at 9.3 per cent. This climb is often part of the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

professional cycling race.

Tour of Flanders

The Muur van Geraardsbergen has often been a climb in the

. It has been used since 1950, although not consistently until 1970. The "Muur" was the final climb in 1973 and 1974, before the finish in Meerbeke. An extra stretch to the chapel ('kapel' in Dutch) at the summit was added in 1981 and climb became known as the "Muur-Kapelmuur". It was a regular feature from 1981 until 2011. From 1988 until 2011 it was the penultimate, and often decisive, climb and always followed by the Bosberg before the finish in Meerbeke. The Muur was removed from the 2012 race. With the finish in

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgium, Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders. The municipality ...

, instead of Meerbeke, it was no longer possible to include it while the race was starting from

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. When the start was moved to

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

for the 2017 race, the Muur was returned to the course, albeit as the eighth climb of the day, approximately 95km from the finish.

Other cycling races

The Muur was climbed in the 1960

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

and in 49 editions of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Since 2019, the Muur is the penultimate climb in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

visited the Muur in 2004 but did not climb the actual Muur of Geraardsbergen. After omission of the Muur from the Tour of Flanders, it was announced that the climb would be in the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

E3 Prijs Vlaanderen E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 ki ...

, although not in the final. The Muur was announced as the centerpiece of the final stage of the Eneco Tour for 2012, 2013, 2014.

and possibly the Muur will be in a stage for the next five years. The Muur has been used as the start of the

Transcontinental Race The Transcontinental Race (TCR) is an annual, self-supported, ultra-distance cycling race across Europe. It is one of the world's toughest ultra-endurance races. The route and distance varies for each edition between about 3,200 and 4,200 km ...

. In 2019, it was used as the first climb of the

References

External links

Photos and profile on rvv.beProfile on climbbybike.com
Climbs in cycle racing in Belgium Tour of Flanders Mountains and hills of East Flanders Cobbled streets Geraardsbergen {{Belgium-sport-stub