The Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) is one of the most famous professional cycling races in the world. The day before the race, thousands of amateur cyclists take to the same roads for the Ronde van Vlaanderen Cyclo Challenge. 

The ultimate challenge is to ride the entire course from Brugge to Oudenaarde (239km) as the pros will do the day after. However, the routes of 127k and 71k will also leave you plenty of opportunity to get to know the steep climbs and the cobblestones. 

Here are a few of the famous climbs: 

Molenberg

The Molenberg is a narrow sloping cobbled street in Zwalm that buzzes with energy every year. At 474 m. it is a short climb, but the cobbles, and gradients of up to 14.2%, guarantee a spectacle.

Koppenberg

Nicknamed 'Vlaanderens Mooiste' ("Flanders finest"), this is one of the most mythical hills in the Flemish Ardennes. Famous, among other things, for the Tour of Flanders, and the annual Koppenbergcross cyclocross race. Every year, a proportion of the participants dismount to make the steep cobbled climb on foot, and the image of Fabian Cancellara doing just that a few years ago, his chain draped round his neck after it broke, is still clear in our memories.

Taaienberg

Famous due to the fact that not only the Tour of Flanders, but also the E3 Harelbeke and the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad all pass this way, this hill has now come to be nicknamed the Boonenberg, because this is where Tom Boonen makes his first attack every year.

Oude Kwaremont

At 2,200 m. the Oude Kwaremont is the longest paved climb in Belgium. Since 2011 it has taken on a more important role in the final of the Tour of Flanders. Together with the Paterberg it is now part of the final lap. In 2012 the pros climbed it a total of three times.

Paterberg

Since 2011 this has been the absolute killer in the Tour of Flanders. Where the Oude Kwaremont is a long climb, the Paterberg is a steep narrow cobbled incline of 360 m. with a maximum gradient of 20.3 %. It was here, last year, that Fabian Cancellara outrode Peter Sagan, ultimately going on to triumph solo in Oudenaarde.