Kruisberg
Climb · Flanders
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Kruisberg is a 1.2 km cycling climb averaging 3.3% (+42 m), rising from 52 m to 92 m in Flanders.
1.2 km · +42 m · 3.3% avg · ~6.6% max · 52 → 92 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: 7.0% (km 0.9–1.1).
| section | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 0–250 m | 57 m | 2.2% |
| 250–500 m | 72 m | 6.6% |
| 500–750 m | 78 m | 2.2% |
| 750–1000 m | 83 m | 1.9% |
What it’s like to ride
The Kruisberg leaves the centre of Ronse on the Oudestraat, rising gently at first between rows of terraced and workers' houses that stand right at the edge of the road. The hardest part comes last: roughly 450 m of rough cobbles on the steepest section, about 6% across the kilometre with ramps close to 10%, and 90 m of climbing in all. The stones run out at the 122 m top, where the lane meets the broad asphalt of the Kruisstraat, the N60, and the road carries on west at a shallow slope toward the Hotond above the city. Race books count the two together as one climb, Kruisberg-Hotond, 2.5 km at 5%. The cafés are back down in Ronse; the climb itself is houses and stones and nothing else.
History
The Oudestraat is the old line of the Kruisstraat, kept as a cobbled road after the main route was re-laid on its present course in the last quarter of the 18th century, and Flanders' heritage inventory records it for the terraced and workers' houses of the early 20th century at its lower end. It first appeared in the Tour of Flanders in 1973 and has been climbed there 19 times (1973–1976, 1991, 1992, 2011 and every edition from 2014 to 2025), listed in roadbooks as Kruisberg (Oudestraat) or Kruisberg-Hotond. Since 2014 it has sat in the finale between the Taaienberg and the Oude Kwaremont, about 26 km from Oudenaarde, and the 2024 race took it twice. In 2023 Mathieu van der Poel attacked on these cobbles and dropped Wout van Aert, a move Tadej Pogačar answered before going on to win. It is also used by Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, E3, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Dwars door Vlaanderen, and the 2007 Belgian championships in Ronse sent the race over it 16 times.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Flanders
Common questions
- How long and steep is Kruisberg?
- Kruisberg is a 1.2 km cycling climb averaging 3.3% (+42 m), rising from 52 m to 92 m in Flanders.
- Where is Kruisberg steepest?
- The steepest 250 m averages 7.0%, between km 0.9 and km 1.1 of the climb.