Kemmelberg
Climb · Flanders
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Kemmelberg is a 1.1 km cycling climb averaging 6.6% (+74 m), rising from 84 m to 158 m in Flanders.
1.1 km · +74 m · 6.6% avg · ~12.4% max · 84 → 158 m
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
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Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 250 m: 17.5% (km 0.4–0.6).
| section | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 0–250 m | 91 m | 3.9% |
| 250–500 m | 115 m | 7.8% |
| 500–750 m | 140 m | 10.1% |
| 750–1000 m | 157 m | 7.4% |
What it’s like to ride
The road leaves the French ossuary at the foot of the hill and drags upward on decent asphalt, gentle enough that you start carrying speed and thinking the Kemmelberg is overrated. Then the trees close in, the cobbles start, and the gradient ratchets up until the last stretch of pave hits 23 percent on some of the roughest stones in Flanders, where gaps open between wheels in a few pedal strokes. Pick a line early and hold it: there is no room to swing about, and the stones turn slick in the wet. Above the ramp the road eases and runs almost flat to the summit at 156 m, the highest point in West Flanders, where the Belvedere watchtower of 1924 stands near the winged Victory of the French soldiers' monument, with a hotel restaurant that has been up here since 1954. In clear weather the view reaches far out over French Flanders.
History
The roads up the Kemmelberg were cut during the First World War to haul munitions to the gun emplacements on the summit, which French and German forces fought over through April 1918. The ossuary that gives this ascent its name sits at the foot of the climb, holding the remains of 5,294 French soldiers gathered between 1920 and 1925, of whom only 57 were identified; it is the largest French military monument outside France. Gent-Wevelgem has used the Kemmelberg since 1955 and made it the decisive climb of the finale from 1962, and this western ascent past the ossuary is the best known of the hill's three roads, the last selection before the long run in to Wevelgem.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Flanders
Common questions
- How long and steep is Kemmelberg?
- Kemmelberg is a 1.1 km cycling climb averaging 6.6% (+74 m), rising from 84 m to 158 m in Flanders.
- Where is Kemmelberg steepest?
- The steepest 250 m averages 17.5%, between km 0.4 and km 0.6 of the climb.