Castelli | InsiderNews – Tagged "koppenberg"

castelli, cycling, Epic Climbs, koppenberg, riding, ronde van vlaanderen, tour of flanders - April 2, 2019

The Koppenberg: It’s steep, cobbled and mythical in nature

There are very few climbs in modern bike racing that can bring a pro racer to his knees. With the evolution of intelligent gearing, the steepest climbs have been tamed. However, defying all technological advances, the Koppenberg takes us back to a time when plodding upward on foot was just as common a means of forward movement as pedaling. It’s steep, cobbled and mythical in nature. A magnificent setting for many of the photos used in our catalogs. We’ve always felt a tie to Belgium, cycling’s other heartland. When it comes to cobbled climbs, few can compare to the Koppenberg for difficulty. It’s not massively long, and the stats are nothing to go home crying about, but with gradients of up to 22 percent and an average of just under 12 percent over 600 meters, it’s an incredibly challenging climb, even for the professionals. There’s only one ascent of the Koppenberg in the Tour of Flanders, but it comes 224 kilometers into what many would say is the most difficult one-day race of the year, and with just 46 kilometers to go, so no one can afford to take it easy. There’s no real run-up to the Koppenberg. When you ...

Testing the Espresso Due Jacket

Riding in the winter often requires a mixed bag of gear, shoe-covers, full-finger gloves, wool socks, tights, jacket, skully, it can sometimes make it feel like you’re a gladiator suiting up for battle. With the well-designed Castelli Espresso Due Jacket, you can simplify that battle and ride without a engery-sapping, wind-flapping jacket.

Where are you riding?

Where will you be riding this Easter, leave your comments below and share your images on Instagram, use #castellicycling, and post your pictures.

A Closer Look At Flanders: The Koppenberg

There are very few climbs in modern bike racing that can bring a bike racer to his knees. With the evolution of intelligent gearings, the steepest climbs have been tamed, well, as much as they can be. The Koppenberg, however, defies all technological advances and takes us back to a time when plodding upward on foot was just as common of a means of forward movement as pedaling.

Read more

andreas, flanders, klier, koppenberg, News - December 8, 2010

Riding Koppenberg with Klier in December.

German-born Andreas Klier lived in Flanders for eleven years before recently moving to Mallorca. When he returned yesterday for a quick ride on the Flanders route, he was all grins and stories, despite the snow and ice on the Koppenberg. Image: Jered Gruber