The Koppenberg | GCN’s Epic Climbs

We take on the most brutal climb of the Tour of Flanders.
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It’s steep, cobbled and mythical in nature. The Koppenberg has gained notoriety among the pro ranks and amateur cyclists alike. Matt, Tom and Simon ventured into deepest Flanders to find out why this 600m stretch of road is so special.

Riding the cobbles with Johan Museeuw ▶︎ http://gcn.eu/1Xvzt9D

Get ready for the Koppenberg – how to train for short, steep climbs ▶︎ http://gcn.eu/1RPLK4p

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Music:
Basement Freaks- The Calling
Lee Groves – Like Dis
Tom Linden- B Killerz

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The legendary climb of the Koppenberg is situated here just to the edge of the village of Melbourne not far from Granada and since 1975 it’s been part of the fixtures and fittings of the Tour of Flanders but before that was used by many many riders and whilst out training

But famously the climb was excluded after the 1987 crash and subsequent running over of a yes / Skippy halfway up the climb now it is a relatively short climb but what it lacks in vertical ascent it’s only 62 meters high the stained hat or stone way more than

Makes up for it with its ferocious gradient a narrow width high size and of course these large and bone-jarring cobbles – there we are just at the foot of the climb now 600 metres long in total with an average grading of 10% and that doesn’t seem too bad but when you

Factor in the steepest Peaks of 22% that’s where this climb has gained its notoriety this steep section is an absolute route over the years as many riders would have walked up the coffin burgers ridden and that includes in Deronda itself a combination of crashes miss gears and even a lack of traction

The worth of course its rise to get off the shoulder their bikes but it’s probably most famous in 1987 when Danish rider yes – Scooby crashed fell off his bike and then got run over by one of the race lead cars yet this is about where

The spot that yes the Scooby fell off again 1987 slipped on its right feet still clipped into the the tow straps and rather than kind of try and drive past a race organizers car wrote over his entire bike and obviously that led to the climb being deemed too

Dangerous it was acting excluded from the Tour of Flanders for a full 15 years before being reinstated in 2002 imagine if you’d arranged that unclip that would have changed the whole course of history than to a fondness with the steepest gnarliest part of the climb done it’s

Not quite over a lot of gradient backs off a little bit it does kick up again sharply at the end of the climb and as you’d expect in Belgium it’s super exposed over the top so it can be really really windy so it’s worth keeping a

Little bit in reserve to press on over the top top advice there lastly but I hear you ask who is the fastest well Strava says the fastest guy is briefed evidence with a quite incredible one minute and 59 seconds but for the ladies it’s a Lisa Longo borghini with 3

Minutes and 9 seconds and in true fashion we’re going to see what time we’re going to set but first we need a bit of a warm-up so it’s now time for one monster of a Flemish burg the three strongest members of the gcn team about to tackle

Tom last leading the way there can be no man more suits to paving the way to this cover climb than the brick himself the enthusiasm is already beginning to show lasty is dropping the hammer and and he’s dropping Matt Stevens to last II looking smooth in the saddle powerful

Matt not Matt having done everything he possibly can to hinder Simon on his quest to become the kom on this iconic climb swings over and leaves him to bridge the gap and bridge the gap he does storming past last he likely Stood Still in fact in fact he stood still next to

His bike feigning a mechanical problem so it’s now just Richardson against the elements against the cobbles against the 22 percent maximum gradients of this iconic Road which seem legends such as Museo bone and Cancellara and Lloyd fly up in the first group so what does this

Man have left in his legs he’s looking powerful he’s putting his psychical skills to good use as he navigates his way to the top and he’s over the worst of it now the gradient has eased and the end is in sight both for Richardson and Stevens in very different ways

One final monstrous 200 watt third and he’s there across the finish line hey extra crosses face oh my finest hour Oh let’s see how he did so our farms out so there you go two videos for the price of one iconic climb of the Koppenberg which is just stretching out behind us

And what an absolutely superb climb that was not quite as superb though with the second video you got free there how not to do an iconic climate lead out oh no and to be fair lads I Fred I didn’t really finish the job either but hey how 2 minutes 27 seconds was the

Official time same time as we have quick offski 18th place so far at the time going to press on Survivor indeed it is come out well I think very much guys come out and try and beat it I’m sure you can now if you want to see some more

Iconic climb videos then why not click up there we’ve got a great one on the collar della finestra in Italy completely different to this one but nonetheless an amazing climb or if you want to how to train for short steep climbs so that when you do come out to

Coffin bag take it off your bucket list you’ll be in tip-top shape we’ve got a great video just down there and to subscribe to GT @ GT n GC n it is cold out here in Flanders how about clicking on this young man renamed as the GC n wattage bazooka click just there