Katteberg
Climb · Flanders
Checked
part of: The cobbled bergs of Flanders
Katteberg is a 0.8 km cycling climb averaging 5.4% (+41 m), rising from 14 m to 55 m in Flanders.
In the Ronde since Karel Van Wijnendaele's 1956 redesign, and its opener from 2020 to 2022: the first cobbles of the day for both the men's and the women's races, ahead of the Oude Kwaremont. One of the gentlest of the protected bergs, and one of the few you can safely descend.
0.8 km · +41 m · 5.4% avg · ~8.3% max · 14 → 55 m
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
Download GPX ↓Navigate to the foot ↗
Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 100 m: 15.4% (km 0.7–0.8).
Road: cobbled throughout
| section | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 0–100 m | 15 m | 1.0% |
| 100–200 m | 18 m | 3.2% |
| 200–300 m | 27 m | 8.0% |
| 400–500 m | 36 m | 5.0% |
| 500–600 m | 40 m | 8.9% |
| 600–700 m | 45 m | 2.8% |
What it’s like to ride
Katteberg climbs straight out of the village of Ename on a wide cobbled street, no hairpins, the whole ramp in view from the bottom. The stones are small mosaic setts laid flat and even, so it buzzes under the wheels rather than bucking you: not much over 700 metres at around 6%, steepening gently toward the top and never turning savage. That makes it one of the easiest of the Flemish Ardennes bergs and one of the few you can safely ride down as well as up. Tall beeches line the road, protected as a landscape since 1985, and the cobbles themselves have been a listed monument since 1995. The Ronde has been over it six times; in 2020, 2021 and 2022 it opened the hills at around 100 km, the warm-up before the Oude Kwaremont. It is a normal through road with real traffic on it, so ride it as one.
History
Karel Van Wijnendaele brought the Katteberg into the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1956, the year the organiser left the traditional route for smaller side roads to make the racing more exciting, and the Ename cobbles arrived alongside the Statieberg and the Eikenberg as the fifth and last climb of the edition Jean Forestier won on 2 April from Ghent to Wetteren. It returned in 1997 and 1998 as the second climb of the day, behind Den Ast, then had a modern run from 2020 to 2022 when it opened the Ronde for both the men and the women, the first cobbles of the day ahead of the Oude Kwaremont. Gent-Wevelgem used it once, in 1977, and it appears repeatedly in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and from time to time in Dwars door Vlaanderen, the E3 and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. The paving itself has been a protected monument since 30 March 1995 under the name Kasseiweg Katteberg, one of dozens of Flemish kasseiwegen listed together, and the road runs inside the protected landscape of Bos t'Ename. The recreational Ronde van Vlaanderenroute takes it the other way, as a descent on its yellow loop.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Flanders
Common questions
- How long and steep is Katteberg?
- Katteberg is a 0.8 km cycling climb averaging 5.4% (+41 m), rising from 14 m to 55 m in Flanders.
- Where is Katteberg steepest?
- The steepest 100 m averages 15.4%, between km 0.7 and km 0.8 of the climb.
- Is Katteberg cobbled, and for how far?
- Yes. 0.6 km of Katteberg's 0.8 km are laid in sett or cobblestone (cobbled throughout), measured from OpenStreetMap surface tags along the climb.