| Max elevation | 69 m |
|---|---|
| Location | Flanders Belgium |
| Start | Etikhove, Maarkedal |
| Altitude | 59 m |
| Length | 820 m |
| Gradient | 7.6 |
| Maxgradient | 12.8 |
Steenbeekdries is an uphill cobbled road in the municipality of Maarkedal, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. With its top at 69 m altitude, it is one of many hill formations in the Flemish Ardennes, in the south of East-Flanders. The entire road is paved in cobbles; in 1995 the road of the Steenbeekdries was classified as a protected landscape monument.
Cycling
The site is best known from road bicycle racing, as it regularly features in the spring classics, most notably the Tour of Flanders. The 800 m climb immediately follows the Mariaborrestraat, a long flat sector of cobbles, and at 7.6% average gradient, is not very steep. The descent following the climb, the Stationsberg, is a straight poorly-paved cobbled road and in fact steeper than the Steenbeekdries.[1][2]
The Steenbeekdries was first included in the Tour of Flanders route in 2002 and has remained a fixed location in the race. In recent years, it comes at 39 km from the finish in Oudenaarde, usually the first climb after the notorious Koppenberg.[3][4]
The Steenbeekdries is also regularly included in Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders for Women.[5]
References
- ^ "Insider's guide: Climbs of the Ronde van Vlaanderen". Cycling News. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ Pickering, Edward (2018-03-08). The Ronde: Inside the World's Toughest Bike Race. Simon & Schuster UK. ISBN 978-1-4711-6928-1.
- ^ "404". 10 February 2017.
- ^ "Parcours Ronde van Vlaanderen 2015 - Sportwereld"
- ^ Cossins, Peter (2023-03-16). The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 313. ISBN 978-1-3994-0788-5.