The Paterberg is a hill in the municipality of

Kluisbergen Kluisbergen () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders, along the Scheldt river. The municipality comprises the towns of , Kwaremont, and which fused in 1971. In 2021, Kluisbergen had a total population of 6,682 ...

, in the Belgian province of

East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...

. With its top at 80 m, it is one of many hill formations in the

Flemish Ardennes The Flemish Ardennes (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Vlaamse Ardennen'') is an informal name given to a hilly region in the south of the province of East Flanders, Belgium. Highest summit is the Hotondberg (151 m). Main characteristics of the region ar ...

, close to

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

. The slopes of the hill were unpaved until 1986, when a local farmer paved the road in cobbles because he wanted 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 ...

cycling race to pass by his house. The cobbled climb became one of the iconic sites of Belgian cycling, and in 1993 the road of the Paterberg was classified as a protected monument.

Cycling

The hill is best known from

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...

, where it is a regular climb in the Flemish races in spring, most notably the

. Together with the Koppenberg and

Oude Kwaremont The Oude Kwaremont ( English: ''Old Kwaremont'') is a road in Kluisbergen, a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The Oude Kwaremont, contrary to popular belief, is not the name of a hill, but the name of one of the cobbled ro ...

it is one of the most arduous climbs in the region, because of its steep slopes and narrow cobbled road. Its average gradient is 12,5% with its steepest point, 20%, stretching for more than 100 m. The Paterberg was included in the Tour of Flanders every time since its first inclusion in 1986, a record it shares only with the Kwaremont. Until 2011 it was usually part of a trio of climbs in the race trajectory, located in between the Oude Kwaremont and Koppenberg, but far before the finish. Since 2012 it is the ultimate climb of the Tour of Flanders, as part of the restyling of the race. Riders needed to climb the hill three times in

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 ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and two times as from

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Because of its place as ultimate difficulty, it often marks the decisive site of the race. For instance, in 2013 and 2016

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss people, Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He is known for being a qual ...

resp.

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak former professional cyclist who competed in road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-c ...

dropped their last companions here on their way to winning the race. The Paterberg is also regularly included in the

E3 Harelbeke 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 ...

and

Dwars door Vlaanderen ''Dwars door Vlaanderen'' ('Across Flanders') is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI Wor ...

, as well as in the

Tour of Flanders for Women The Tour of Flanders (), formerly the Tour of Flanders for Women, is the List of women's road bicycle races, women's sister edition to the Tour of Flanders (men's race), men's Tour of Flanders. It is an annual road bicycle racing event in Flander ...

Gallery

File:Paterberg - Zulzeke - Kluisbergen - België.jpg, Paterberg in Kluisbergen File:Paterberg - Kluisbergen - België.jpg, View from the top File:Paterberg 2014 - België.jpg, Balustrades being placed before the 2014 Tour of Flanders File:Paterberg - 15 10 2011 - Belgium.jpg, View towards the top File:Ruien - Power plant (from_Tiegemberg).jpg, View on the Paterberg hill from Tiegemberg

References

{{Reflist

External links

Paterberg Trajectory on Google Maps
Climbs in cycle racing in Belgium Tour of Flanders Mountains and hills of East Flanders