Nokere Hill

Nokere Berg is the cobblestone stretch that is famous as the finishing point of Nokere Koerse. It was here that in 2010 Kurt Hovelijnck fell again at the finish of Nokere Koerse 2010, exactly 1 year to the day after his extreme fall in Zingem. A year earlier, during a Wednesday training ride along this Scheldedijk between Zwijnaarde and Oudenaarde with his friend and cycling colleague, teammate Wouter Weylandt from Quick-Step, things went wrong. In Zingem, they were sprinting but at full speed, the rear end of the bike broke off. He flew over the handlebars and fell on his head. He was not wearing a helmet. Wouter Weylandt immediately called the ambulance and insisted that the MUG come because he knew his friend Kurt was not well. That saved his life. He was unconscious and there was blood coming from his ears. At UZ Gent, they removed two large pieces from his skull to relieve the pressure from the swelling of his brain. He remained in a coma for three weeks. After his coma, he worked extremely hard to get back to his level. Just one year later, on March 17, 2010, he cycled again and participated in Nokere Koerse 2010. In the sprint here at Nokere Berg, he fell again! On that same day, March 17.

Dromos