King of the Mountains

King of the Mountains / Queen of the Mountains

A polkadot cycling jersey worn by Queen of the Mountains: Alison Jackson
Sport	Road bicycle racing
Competition	Tour de France Giro d'Italia Vuelta a España Most Stage races
Awarded for	Climbing specialists
Local name	Le Roi des montagnes (French) Gran Premio della Montagna (Italian) Gran Premio de la montaña (Spanish)

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 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, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España) 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, 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 (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.^[1]