Paterberg

The Paterberg is a hill in the municipality of Kluisbergen, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. With its top at 80 m, it is one of many hill formations in the Flemish Ardennes, close to Wallonia. The slopes of the hill were unpaved until 1986, when a local farmer paved the road in cobbles because he wanted the Tour of Flanders cycling race to pass by his house. The cobbled climb became one of the iconic sites of Belgian cycling, and in 1993 the road of the Paterberg was classified as a protected monument.

==Cycling== The hill is best known from road bicycle racing, where it is a regular climb in the Flemish races in spring, most notably the Tour of Flanders. Together with the Koppenberg and Oude Kwaremont it is one of the most arduous climbs in the region, because of its steep slopes and narrow cobbled road. Its average gradient is 12,5% with its steepest point, 20%, stretching for more than 100 m.