Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2020: The Route

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Sunday 1 March - Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne unveils a makeover. The race amounts to 201 kilometres and includes eleven hills, but the major change is that the finale features just one flat lap of 15 kilometres instead of two.

The short Nokereberg used to be the last uphill with 50 kilometres to go, but the makeover now upgrades the 1,100 metres long Kluisberg to be the final climb of the day. The route then continues onto narrow, rolling and exposed roads before the passage on the line. The final lap remains unchanged, but it is ridden just once.

The new incarnation is supposed to favour attackers. Yet, though Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne has been named a sprinter’s classic, only one out of the last four editions saw a peloton sprint finish. Bob Jungels and Jasper Stuyven soloed to victory in 2019 and 2016, respectively, and Peter Sagan won a five-up sprint in 2017. Only 2018 saw a bunch sprint with Groenewegen taking the spoils.

The first half of the rebranded course brings a ‘new’ Wallonian hill, the Mont Saint-Laurent, but all in all the action remains centered where it was. The race returns to Flanders via La Houppe (1,880 metres at 4.8%), which is where the race intensifies.

Within 40 kilometres the riders tackle seven ‘hellingen’. Via the Kanarieberg (1,000 metres at 7.7%), Kruisberg (1,800 metres at 4.8%) and Hotond (2,700 metres at 3.1%) the route continues onto the Côte de Trieu (1,260 metres at 7%), Oude Kwaremont (2,200 metres at 4.4%) and Kluisberg (1,100 metres at 6%). That last hill is crested inside the last 50 kilometres, which is actually similar to the location of the Nokereberg in recent editions.

Other interesting reads: results and start list Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2020.