King of the Mountains
The King of the Mountains 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 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 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 in the [Tour de France|Mountains classification], 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 to 4 based on their steepness and length. A fifth category, called Hors catégorie 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. 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 or Queen of the Mountains can also apply to the highest ranked user in certain activities tracked by services such as Strava.
Mountains classification winners of the Grand Tours
Winners by year
| Year | Giro d'Italia | Tour de France | Vuelta a España | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1933 |  Alfredo Binda.png" />Alfredo Binda|ITAMost winsTwo riders have won the "King of the Mountains" in the Tour de France six times: Federico Bahamontes and Lucien Van Impe, while Richard Virenque holds the record with seven wins. Gino Bartali holds the record for the Giro d'Italia, also with seven wins, while José Luis Laguía has won the Vuelta equivalent five times.
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