Muur van Geraardsbergen
Encyclopedia
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Wall of Geraardsbergen/Grammont, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Mur de Grammont) is a steep narrow road with cobblestones located in Geraardsbergen
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 following towns:...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hill starts near the river Dender
Dender
The Dendre or Dender is a 65 km long river in Belgium, right tributary of the river Scheldt. The confluence of both rivers is in the Belgian town Dendermonde....
at 18 m and reaches the top of the Oudenberg at 110 m. This climb is famous for being part of the route of Ronde van Vlaanderen professional cycling race
Road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...
.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
The Muur van Geraardsbergen is the penultimate climb in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, 16 km from the finishing line. It has been part of the race since 1950, although not consistently until 1981. According to the database at salite.ch the climb has a length of 1 kilometer with an average grade of 7.7%. However, the official data from the race say the following: length 475 meters, average 9.3%, max 19.8% (all cobbles).In 2010, Fabian Cancellara drove away from Tom Boonen in an attack on the Muur, and won the Ronde van Vlaanderen.