King of the Mountains

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The King of the Mountains (KoM) is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification. For women's cycle racing, a similar term, 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 Tour de France, Giro d'Italia or Vuelta a España) where points are accumulated over the duration of the whole race.

In the Tour de France, 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 categorie (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 (French: maillot à pois rouge). 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 and Vuelta, the King of the Mountains leader wears a green jersey.

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 Jose Luis Laguia has won the Vuelta equivalent five times.

No rider has won the "King of the Mountains" in all three Grand Tours in the same year. Indeed, only two riders, Federico Bahamontes and Luis Herrera, have won all three competitions in different years. Ten riders have achieved doubles.

The Tour/Giro double has been achieved by four riders:

• Fausto Coppi (1949)
• Charly Gaul (1956)
• Lucien Van Impe (1983)
• Claudio Chiappucci (1992)

The Giro/Vuelta double has been achieved by two riders:

• Manuel Fuente (1972)
• Andrés Oliva (1975, 1976)

The Tour/Vuelta double has also been achieved by four riders:

• Federico Bahamontes (1958)
• Julio Jiminez (1965)
• Luis Herrera (1987)
• Tony Rominger (1993)

[edit] Most Wins (Grand Tours)

• 9: Federico Bahamontes - (Spain)
  • Tour de France ((1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964)
  • Giro d'Italia (1956)
  • Vuelta a Espana (1957, 1958)
• 9: Gino Bartali - (Italy)
  • Tour de France ((1938, 1948)
  • Giro d'Italia (1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1947)
• 8: Lucien Van Impe - (Belgium)
  • Tour de France ((1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1983)
  • Giro d'Italia (1982, 1983)

[edit] Grand Tours: Kings of the Mountains

Tour Kings of the Mountains

Year	Tour KoM	Nationality	Giro KoM	Nationality	Vuelta KoM	Nationality
1933	Vicente Trueba		Alfredo Binda		-	-
1934	René Vietto		Remo Bertoni		-	-
1935	Félicien Vervaecke		Gino Bartali		Edoaro Molinar
1936	Julian Berrendero		Gino Bartali		Salvodor Molina
1937	Felicien Vervaecke		Gino Bartali		-	-
1938	Gino Bartali		Giovanni Valetti		-	-
1939	Sylvere Maes		Gino Bartali		-	-
1940	-	-	Gino Bartali		-	-
1941	-	-	-	-	Fermin Trueba
1942	-	-	-	-	Julián Berrendero
1945	-	-	-	-	Julián Berrendero
1946	-	-	Gino Bartali		Emilio Rodriguez
1947	Pierre Brambilla		Gino Bartali		Emilio Rodriguez
1948	Gino Bartali		Fausto Coppi		Bernardo Ruiz
1949	Fausto Coppi		Fausto Coppi		-	-
1950	Louison Bobet		Hugo Koblet		Emilio Rodriguez
1951	Raphael Geminiani		Louison Bobet		-	-
1952	Fausto Coppi		Raphael Geminiani		-	-
1953	Jesus Lerono		Pasquale Fornara		-	-
1954	Federico Bahamontes		Fausto Coppi		-	-
1955	Charly Gaul		Gastone Nencini		Giusseppe Buratti
1956	Charly Gaul		Charly Gaul Federico Bahamontes		Nico Defilippis
1957	Gastone Nencini		Raphael Geminiani		Federico Bahamontes
1958	Federico Bahamontes		Jean Brankart		Federico Bahamontes
1959	Federico Bahamontes		Charly Gaul		Antonio Suárez
1960	Imerio Massignan		Rik Van Looy		Antonio Karmany
1961	Imerio Massignan		Vito Taccone		Antonio Karmany
1962	Federico Bahamontes		Angelino Soler		Antonio Karmany
1963	Federico Bahamontes		Vito Taccone		Julio Jiminez
1964	Federico Bahamontes		Franco Bitossi		Julio Jiminez
1965	Julio Jiminez		Franco Bitossi		Julio Jiminez
1966	Julio Jiminez		Franco Bitossi		Gregorio San Miguel
1967	Julio Jiminez		Aurelio Gonzales		Mariano Diaz
1968	Aurelio Gonzales		Eddy Merckx		Francisco Gabica
1969	Eddy Merckx		Claudi Michelotto		Luis Ocaña
1970	Eddy Merckx		Martin Vandenbossche		Augustin Tamames
1971	Lucien Van Impe		Manuel Fuente		Joop Zoetemelk
1972	Lucien Van Impe		Manuel Fuente		Manuel Fuente
1973	Pedro Torres		Manuel Fuente		Jose Luis Abilleira
1974	Domingo Perurena		Manuel Fuente		Jose Luis Abilleira
1975	Lucien Van Impe		Francisco Galdos Andrés Oliva		Andrés Oliva
1976	Giancarlo Bellini		Andrés Oliva		Andrés Oliva
1977	Lucien Van Impe		Faustino Fernandez Ovies		Pedro Torres
1978	Mariano Martínez		Ueli Sutter		Andrés Oliva
1979	Giovanni Battaglin		Claudio Bertolotto		Felipe Yanez
1980	Raymond Martin		Claudio Bertolotto		Juan Fernandez
1981	Lucien Van Impe		Claudio Bertolotto		Jose Luis Laguia
1982	Bernard Vallet		Lucien Van Impe		Jose Luis Laguia
1983	Lucien Van Impe		Lucien Van Impe		Jose Luis Laguia
1984	Robert Millar		Laurent Fignon		Felipe Yanez
1985	Luis Herrera		Jose Luiz Navarro		Jose Luis Laguia
1986	Bernard Hinault		Pedro Munoz		Jose Luis Laguia
1987	Luis Herrera		Robert Millar		Luis Herrera
1988	Steven Rooks		Andy Hampsten		Álvaro Pino
1989	Gert-Jan Theunisse		Luis Herrera		Oscar Vargas
1990	Thierry Claveyrolat		Claudio Chiappucci		Martin Farfan
1991	Claudio Chiappucci		Inaki Gaston		Luis Herrera
1992	Claudio Chiappucci		Claudio Chiappucci		Carlos Hernandez
1993	Tony Rominger		Claudio Chiappucci		Tony Rominger
1994	Richard Virenque		Pascal Richard		Luc Leblanc
1995	Richard Virenque		Mariano Piccoli		Laurent Jalabert
1996	Richard Virenque		Mariano Piccoli		Tony Rominger
1997	Richard Virenque		Jose Jaime Gonzalez		José Maria Jiménez
1998	Christophe Rinero		Marco Pantani		José Maria Jiménez
1999	Richard Virenque		Jose Jaime Gonzalez		José Maria Jiménez
2000	Santiago Botero		Francesco Casagrande		Carlos Sastre
2001	Laurent Jalabert		Freddy Gonzalez Martinez		José Maria Jiménez
2002	Laurent Jalabert		Julio Perez Cuapio		Aitor Osa
2003	Richard Virenque		Freddy Gonzalez Martinez		Felix Cardenas
2004	Richard Virenque		Fabian Wegmann		Felix Cardenas
2005	Michael Rasmussen		José Rujano Guillén		Joaquín Rodríguez
2006	Michael Rasmussen		Juan Manuel Gárate		Egoi Martínez
2007	Mauricio Soler		Leonardo Piepoli		Dennis Menchov

[edit] See also

• Climbing specialist