The Muur van Geraardsbergen is to make its comeback to the Tour of Flanders next year with the climb being included for the first time since 2011. The race organisers have also announced that the race will start in Antwerp for the next five years.
The finale of the race over the past five years has consisted of three laps of Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg before finishing in Oudenaarde, rather than the previous finish of the Muur and the Bosberg.
This change in 2012 upset many race fans with a mock funeral even being held on the Muur. Despite the inclusion of the Muur, the organisers aren’t returning to the Muur-Bosberg finish.
“A detailed guide to the new route will be available after summer, but naturally we can already give a sneak peek,” said race director Wim Van Herreweghe.
“After the start in Antwerp, a flat approach along Herzele and Zottegem follows in the direction of Oudenaarde, for an initial pass over the Oude Kwaremont. Next comes a series of climbs in the approach to the Muur van Geraardsbergen, back after its last use in 2011.”
The riders will take on the Leberg, the Berendries, and Tenbosse before they climb the Muur Van Geraardsbergen.
As the eighth incline of the updated route, the Muur van Geraardsbergen will be one of the first decisive climbs of the day. The last 75 kilometres remain unchanged from the year before.
Therefore the finale will once again be comprised of Oude Kwaremont (2nd time), Paterberg, Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries, Taaienberg, Kruisberg before a final lap of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.
“Everyone on the Flanders Classics team worked hard over the past few years for a return of the Muur to the route,” Wim Van Herreweghe said. “This updated route is a complete package; it brings the very best of more than a century of the Tour of Flanders together in a single monumental race. In choosing Antwerp, we brought a new twist to the Ronde, the Muur, which is beloved by racers and audience alike, has come back from the past, and the finale so tremendously applauded in past years will remain securely intact.”
