Muur van Geraardsbergen

Geschiedenis

The Muur van Geraardsbergen is a steep, narrow road with cobblestones in Geraardsbergen, Belgium. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hill starts near the river Dender 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 professional cycling race.Tour of FlandersThe Muur van Geraardsbergen has often been a climb in the Tour of Flanders. 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, instead of Meerbeke, it was no longer possible to include it while the race was starting from Bruges. When the start was moved to Antwerp for the 2017 race, the Muur was returned to the course, albeit as the eighth climb of the day, approximately 95km from the finish.