Steenbeekdries
Flanders
Gradient by colour: under 3% 3–6% 6–9% 9%+
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
Steenbeekdries is a 0.7 km cycling climb averaging 2.9% (+21 m), rising from 39 m to 60 m in Flanders.
A fixture of the Ronde's finale since 2002, the first climb after the Koppenberg, entered on the Mariaborrestraat's flat cobbles about 39 km from Oudenaarde. Alaphilippe attacked here in 2020 to open the finale he and van der Poel rode away from; the 2026 rebuild kept it out of the route for the first time in roughly 25 years.
Van der Linden, Geert
Van der Linden, Geert
Van der Linden, Geert
Van der Linden, GeertLoading rider experiences…
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Where it bites
Steepest 100 m: 5.0% (km 0.3–0.4).
Road: 0.2 km of cobbles, the rest asphalt
| section | to | avg |
|---|
| 0–100 m | 42 m | 3.2% |
| 100–200 m | 44 m | 3.1% |
| 200–300 m | 47 m | 2.5% |
| 300–400 m | 52 m | 4.0% |
| 400–500 m | 54 m | 2.0% |
| 500–600 m | 57 m | 3.3% |
| 600–700 m | 59 m | 2.2% |
What it’s like to ride
Steenbeekdries is cobbled end to end, protected as a monument since 1995, rising past farmhouses about a kilometre southwest of Etikhove to the junction with the Stationsberg. On race lines you come in off the Mariaborrestraat, a long flat cobbled sector that joins halfway along, so the legs are already heavy by the time the road tips up. The slope is the least of it and the stones sit better than on most bergs; the sting is what comes next, a left onto the Stationsberg, a straight, poorly paved cobbled descent that is steeper than the climb you just did. Mariaborrestraat and Steenbeekdries run 1,250 m of unbroken cobbles between them, and in the Ronde the climb lands about 39 km from the Oudenaarde finish as the first climb after the Koppenberg, a fixture since 2002. Check the road before you ride it: Maarkedal has been relaying all three streets through 2026, the Steenbeekdries dropped out of the Ronde for the first time in nearly 25 years because of it, and the works are due to finish in autumn 2026. In den Arend on Etikhoveplein, a kilometre away in the village, is the nearest café and gives cyclists a secure place to park.
History
Steenbeekdries climbs on cobbles through Etikhove, in the municipality of Maarkedal, and the road itself was listed as a protected monument on 30 March 1995, described in the Flemish heritage inventory as one of the last remaining examples of stone paving, a technique the listing traces back to Roman military roads. The Ronde van Vlaanderen first used it in 2002 and it stayed in the route from then on, placed in the finale as the first climb after the Koppenberg, entered along the flat cobbles of the Mariaborrestraat and left by the Stationsberg descent. Dwars door Vlaanderen and the women's Ronde van Vlaanderen use it as well. Julian Alaphilippe attacked here in the 2020 Ronde with 39 km to go and was joined by Mathieu van der Poel, opening the finale that ended with Alaphilippe colliding with a support motorbike and Van der Poel outsprinting Wout van Aert in Oudenaarde. Maarkedal has since been rebuilding the road, sewers and setts of Mariaborrestraat, Steenbeekdries and Stationsberg, work that kept the climb out of the 2026 Ronde for the first time in roughly 25 years, with completion planned for autumn 2026.
Common questions
- How long and steep is Steenbeekdries?
- Steenbeekdries is a 0.7 km cycling climb averaging 2.9% (+21 m), rising from 39 m to 60 m in Flanders.
- Where is Steenbeekdries steepest?
- The steepest 100 m averages 5.0%, between km 0.3 and km 0.4 of the climb.
- Is Steenbeekdries cobbled, and for how far?
- Yes. 0.2 km of Steenbeekdries's 0.7 km are laid in sett or cobblestone (0.2 km of cobbles, the rest asphalt), measured from OpenStreetMap surface tags along the climb.
0.7 km · +21 m · 2.9% avg · ~5.0% max · 39 → 60 m