Côte de Saint-Nicolas
The Côte de Saint-Nicolas is a climb in the municipality of Saint-Nicolas in Belgium. It is often included in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycling classic, where it comes as one of the last difficulties, at approximately 6 km from the finish in the neighbouring municipality of Ans. With a length of 1.4 km at an average gradient of 7.6%, it is often a decisive site of the race.
The climb is nicknamed The Italian Hill, because of the composition of its immigrant population and their descendants – often from Sicily and the South of Italy. Their presence is particularly expressed by the many Italian flags hanging outside the windows, especially during race day of Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
