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 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 Legend Rider also won General classification Rider also won General and Points classification Rider also won General and Young Rider classification Rider also won Young Rider classification
YearTour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. Gbrathletics.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-13. Giro d'Italia Tour de France Vuelta a España1933 (1/1) (1/1) Race not held1934 (1/1) (1/1)1935 (1/9) (1/2) (1/1)1936 (2/9) (1/3) (1/1)1937 (3/9) (2/2) Race not held 1938 (1/1) (4/9)1939 (5/9) (1/1)1940 (6/9) Race not held1941 Race not held (1/1)1942 (2/3)1943 Race not held19441945 (3/3)1946 (7/9) (1/3)1947 (8/9) (1/1) (2/3)1948 (1/5) (9/9) (1/1)1949 (2/5) (3/5) Race not held 1950 (1/1) (1/2) (3/3)1951 (2/2) (1/3) Race not held1952 (2/3) (4/5)1953 (1/1) (1/1)1954 (5/5) (1/9)1955 (1/2) (1/4) (1/1)1956 (2/4) (3/4) (1/1) (2/9) 1957 (3/3) (2/2) (3/9)1958 (1/1) (5/9) (4/9)1959 (4/4) (6/9) (1/1)1960 (1/1) (1/2) (1/3)1961 (1/2) (2/2) (2/3)1962 (1/1) (7/9) (3/3)1963 (2/2) (8/9) (1/6)1964 (1/3) (9/9) (2/6)1965 (2/3) (4/6) (3/6)1966 (3/3) (5/6) (1/1)1967 (1/2) (6/6) (1/1)1968 (1/3) (2/2) (1/1)1969 (1/1) (2/3) (1/1)1970 (1/1) (3/3) (1/1)1971 (1/4) (1/8) (1/1)1972 (2/4) (2/8) (1/1)1973 (3/4) (1/1) (1/2)1974 (4/4) (1/1) (2/2)1975 (1/1) (3/8) (1/5) (2/5) 1976 (4/5) (1/1) (3/5)1977 (1/1) (4/8) (1/1)1978 (1/1) (1/1) (5/5)1979 (1/3) (1/1) (1/2)1980 (2/3) (1/1) (1/1)1981 (3/3) (5/8) (1/5)1982 (6/8) (1/1) (2/5)1983 (7/8) (8/8) (3/5)1984 (1/1) (1/1) (2/2)1985 (1/1) (1/5) (4/5)1986 (1/1) (1/1) (5/5)1987 (2/2) (3/5) (2/5)1988 (1/1) (1/1) (1/1)1989 (4/5) (1/1) (1/1)1990 (1/5) (1/1) (1/1)1991 (1/1) (2/5) (5/5)1992 (3/5) (4/5) (1/1)1993 (5/5) (2/3) (1/3)1994 (1/1) (1/7) (1/1)1995 (1/2) (2/7) (1/3)1996 (2/2) (3/7) (3/3)1997 (1/2) (4/7) (1/4)1998 (1/1) (1/1) (2/4)1999 (2/2) (5/7) (3/4)2000 (1/1) (1/1) (1/2)2001 (1/2) (2/3) (4/4)2002 (1/1) (3/3) (1/1)2003 (2/2) (6/7) (1/2)2004 (1/1) (7/7) (2/2)2005 (1/1) (1/2) (1/1)2006 (1/1) (2/2) (1/2)2007 (1/1) (1/1) (1/1)2008 (1/1) (2/2) (1/4)2009 (1/2) (2/2) (2/4)2010 (1/1) (1/1) (3/4)2011 (2/2) (1/1) (4/4)2012 (1/1) (1/1) (1/1)2013 (1/1) (1/1) (1/1)2014 (1/1) (1/2) (1/1)2015 (1/1) (1/2) (1/2)2016 (1/1) (2/2) (2/2)2017 (1/1) (1/1) (1/1)2018 (2/2) (1/1) (1/1)2019 (1/3) (1/1) (1/2)2020 (1/1) (1/4) (1/1)2021 (2/2) (2/4) (1/1)2022 (1/1) (1/1) (1/3)2023 (1/1) (2/3) (1/1)2024 (3/4) (2/3) (1/2)2025 (1/1) (4/4) (2/2)2026 (3/3) (3/3) (1/1)Year Giro d'Italia Tour de France Vuelta a España 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 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
Most wins 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 has won the Vuelta equivalent five times.
RankRiderTotalGiroTourVuelta1 9 1 (1956) 6 (1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964) 2 (1957, 1958) 9 7 (1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1947) 2 (1938, 1948) – 3 8 2 (1982, 1983) 6 (1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1983) – 4 7 – 7 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004) – 5 6 – 3 (1965, 1966, 1967) 3 (1963, 1964, 1965)6 5 3 (1990, 1992, 1993) 2 (1991, 1992) – 5 3 (1948, 1949, 1954) 2 (1949, 1952) – 5 4 (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974) – 1 (1972) 5 1 (1989) 2 (1985, 1987) 1 (1987) 5 – – 5 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986) 5 2 (1975, 1976) – 3 (1975, 1976, 1978)
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.
RiderTotalGiroTourVuelta 9 1 (1956) 6 (1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964) 2 (1957, 1958) 5 1 (1989) 2 (1985, 1987) 2 (1987, 1991)
Natural doubles Ten riders have won two mountains classifications in a single year:
Giro d'Italia and Tour de France 1949 Fausto Coppi 1956 Charly Gaul 1983 Lucien Van Impe 1992 Claudio Chiappucci
Tour de France and Vuelta a España 1958 Federico Bahamontes 1965 Julio Jiménez 1987 Luis Herrera 1993 Tony Rominger
Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España 1972 Manuel Fuente 1975 Andrés Oliva 1976 Andrés Oliva
Days leading classification In previous tours, sometimes a stage was broken in two (or three). "Days" column gives the number of times the cyclist was a classification leader at the end of the day. Numbers in brackets include split stages.
after the end of 2026 Vuelta a España Legend Current records Rider was leading in all Grand Tours Rider was leading in all Grand Tours in one season
RankRiderDaysLeading spanGiroTourVuelta1 Federico Bahamontes133 (138)1954–196434 (35)74 (77)25 (26)2 Lucien Van Impe112 (123)1971–198334 (35)78 (88)03 Gino Bartali98 (113)1935–194873 (83)25 (30)04 Richard Virenque961992–200409605 Julio Jiménez95 (99)1961–19682540 (43)30 (31)6 Eddy Merckx92 (97)1968–197656 (57)36 (40)07 José Luis Laguía90 (94)1981–19860090 (94)8 José Manuel Fuente71 (80)1971–197446 (50)8 (10)17 (20)9 José Luis Abilleira66 (75)1973–19760066 (75)10 Tadej Pogačar642020–20262040411 Fausto Coppi611940–19543724012 Luis Herrera59 (61)1985–19918 (9)25 (26)2613 Julián Berrendero55 (62)1936–194709 (13)46 (49)14 Tony Rominger55 (56)1989–1996101035 (36)
Only four other riders were leading mountains classification in all three Grand Tours: Aurelio González Puente, Karsten Kroon, Tim Wellens and Jonas Vingegaard.
The rider with the most Grand Tour days on the top of the King of the Mountains classification in one season is Federico Bahamontes - 31 in 1958. José Manuel Fuente amassed a record 34 stages (including split stages) across 29 days as a KoM leader in one calendar year (1972).
References