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The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's
cycling road race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...
; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest position over several designated climbs in a single-day road race, it is more usually applied to stage races (for example, the Grand Tours,
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consist ...
, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España, and smaller races like the Tour of California) where points are accumulated over the duration of the whole race. In the Tour de France, where it is officially known as the
Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...
, at the top of each significant climb, points are awarded to the riders who are first over the top. The climbs are categorised from 1 (most difficult) to 4 (least difficult) based on their steepness and length. A fifth category, called '' Hors catégorie'' (outside category) applies to mountains rated even more severe than first category. Similar ratings apply to climbs in the other major Tours. In the Tour de France, the leader in the mountains competition wears a distinctive
polka dot jersey Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...
(French: ''maillot à pois rouges''). Although the King of the Mountains was first recognised in the 1933 Tour de France, the distinctive jersey was not introduced until 1975. In the Giro, the King of the Mountains leader wore a green jersey until 2011; in 2012, the jersey changed to blue at the behest of the corporate sponsor of the mountains classification. In the Vuelta several jersey designs have been used, but since 2010 it has been white with blue polka dots. Additionally, King of the Mountains (KoM) can also apply to the highest ranked user in certain activities tracked by applications such as Strava.


Mountains classification winners of the Grand Tours


Winners by year

;Notes A.  Franco Pellizotti was the Mountains leader but later had his results removed after his biological passport indicated irregular values, but the classification has not been remade yet. Egoi Martínez was ranked second and later declared winner.
B. 
Bernhard Kohl Bernhard Kohl (born 4 January 1982, in Vienna) is an Austrian former professional road bicycle racer and recognized climbing specialist. After the Gerolsteiner team announced they would not be in existence for the 2009 season, Kohl signed with UC ...
was the Mountains leader but later had his results removed after a positive test for MIRCERA and admission to the use of doping. Carlos Sastre was ranked second and later declared winner.Official history of the Tour, see pages 117 and 123


Career triples

No rider has won the "King of the Mountains" in all three Grand Tours in the same year. Only two riders, Federico Bahamontes and Luis Herrera, have won all three competitions in different years. Ten riders have achieved doubles. * — 1 Giro mountains jersey ( 1956), 6 Tour mountains jerseys ( 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964), 2 Vuelta mountains jersey (
1957 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...
, 1958) * — 1 Giro mountains jersey ( 1989), 2 Tour mountains jerseys ( 1985, 1987), 2 Vuelta mountains jersey ( 1987, 1991)


Natural doubles

The Tour/Giro double has been achieved by four riders: * Fausto Coppi (1949) *
Charly Gaul Charly Gaul Sporting Cyclist, UK, undated cutting (8 December 1932 – 6 December 2005)Lucien Van Impe (1983) * Claudio Chiappucci (1992) The Giro/Vuelta double has been achieved by two riders: *
Manuel Fuente Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel Charles Fuqua Manuel Jr. (born January 4, 1944), is an American former professional baseball playe ...
(1972) * Andrés Oliva (1975, 1976) The Tour/Vuelta double has also been achieved by four riders: * Federico Bahamontes (1958) * Julio Jiménez (1965) * Luis Herrera (1987) * Tony Rominger (1993)


Most wins (Grand Tour)

Two riders have won the "King of the Mountains" in the Tour de France six times: Federico Bahamontes (Spain) and Lucien Van Impe (Belgium), while Richard Virenque (France) holds the record with seven wins. Gino Bartali holds the record for the Giro d'Italia, also with seven wins, while
José Luis Laguía José Luis Laguía Martínez (born 30 September 1959) is a retired Spanish road cyclist and climber. He won a record five mountains classifications at the Vuelta a España during his career. As a faithful Domestique of Pedro Delgado he follo ...
has won the Vuelta equivalent five times. *9: Federico Bahamontes – ** Tour de France ( 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964) ** Giro d'Italia ( 1956) ** Vuelta a España (
1957 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...
, 1958) *9: Gino Bartali – ** Tour de France ( 1938,
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
) ** Giro d'Italia ( 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1946,
1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...
) *8: Lucien Van Impe – ** Tour de France ( 1971, 1972, 1975,
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...
,
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...
, 1983) ** Giro d'Italia (
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...
, 1983) *7: Richard Virenque – ** Tour de France (
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...
, 1995, 1996, 1997,
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
, 2003, 2004) *6: Julio Jiménez – ** Tour de France ( 1965, 1966, 1967) ** Vuelta a España ( 1963, 1964, 1965)


References

{{Grand Tour Road bicycle racing terminology Cycling records and statistics Grand Tour (cycling) Cycling jerseys