Leberg
Climb · Flanders
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Leberg is a 0.9 km cycling climb averaging 3.2% (+28 m), rising from 64 m to 93 m in Flanders.
Thirty-five Rondes since 1977, planted straight off the Haaghoek's cobbles in the chain that packs six hellingen into 29 km. Its finest hour was 2011: Cancellara countered alone here, caught everything up the road, and only Chavanel could follow.
0.9 km · +28 m · 3.2% avg · ~6.8% max · 64 → 93 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: 6.6% (km 0.2–0.4).
Road: paved throughout
| section | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 0–100 m | 66 m | 1.7% |
| 100–200 m | 71 m | 5.1% |
| 200–300 m | 79 m | 8.1% |
| 300–400 m | 83 m | 5.7% |
| 400–500 m | 87 m | 4.2% |
| 500–600 m | 89 m | 2.8% |
| 600–700 m | 91 m | 1.3% |
| 700–800 m | 92 m | 1.4% |
What it’s like to ride
The Leberg begins where the Haaghoek's 1.7 km of cobbles end, so you arrive with your hands still buzzing and no room to shake them out. The surface here is asphalt, a narrow road lifting out of the valley at Elst, and the hardest metres come at once: a right-hand bend near the bottom that touches 14%. The gradient holds through the first few hundred metres, then eases around halfway into false flat that runs exposed across open fields up to Zegelsem, where a crosswind can cost you more than the slope did. Painted names of local riders stay on the tarmac all year, so there is something to read while you turn it over. The top is only 99 m above sea level, with trout ponds beside the road, and in the classics the Berendries comes soon after: the Leberg sits inside a chain that packs Eikenberg, Holleweg, Wolvenberg, Haaghoek, Berendries and Valkenberg into 29 km.
History
The Leberg, a narrow asphalt lane between the villages of Zegelsem and Elst in Brakel, first appeared in the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1977 and has been climbed there 35 times, across 1977–1983, 1990–1997, 1999–2011 and 2014–2020. From 1984 to 1989 the race used a longer variant, the Keiweg-Leberg, which turned off earlier in the Haaghoek and rejoined the present road just below the summit; in 1990 the organisers kept the field on the Haaghoek cobbles for longer and began the climb on the Leberg itself, and the run from the Haaghoek to the Berendries has been its traditional place in the route ever since. In 2011 it produced the day's biggest attack: Tom Boonen forced the pace on the Haaghoek cobbles, Fabian Cancellara countered alone on the Leberg and caught every rider up the road, and only Sylvain Chavanel could hold his pace, before cramp on the Muur van Geraardsbergen handed the win to Nick Nuyens. Beyond the Ronde it is a fixture of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, used repeatedly between 1984 and 2015 and in recent editions more than once in the same race, and it has also served E3 Harelbeke in 2013, 2014 and 2015, Dwars door Vlaanderen, and stage five of the 2014 Eneco Tour. The We Ride Flanders sportive sends its 133, 163 and 247 km routes over it in the same order the professionals take it, straight off the Haaghoek and on towards the Berendries.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Flanders
Common questions
- How long and steep is Leberg?
- Leberg is a 0.9 km cycling climb averaging 3.2% (+28 m), rising from 64 m to 93 m in Flanders.
- Where is Leberg steepest?
- The steepest 250 m averages 6.6%, between km 0.2 and km 0.4 of the climb.
- What is the road surface like on Leberg?
- Leberg is paved throughout.