Climbing classifications

In message <[email hidden]>, Todd Mathews
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

After watching the Tour de France this year I did note the mention of class 1 and 2 climbs. Does
anyone know the different classes of climbs and what constitutes each?

As you might imagine the climbs are categorised according to the length., severity of the gradient,
altitude of the climb etc.

<http://bicycling.about.com/library/weekly/aa063002a.htm>
--
Chris French, Leeds

"Todd Mathews" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

After watching the Tour de France this year I did note the mention of

class

Quoted message said:

1 and 2 climbs. Does anyone know the different classes of climbs and what constitutes each?

According to Duffers the classifications came from the early days of motoring when a guide (probably
Michelin) classified climbs to indicate whether cars etc. stood a chance of getting to the top.

Hors category presumably referred to there being little chance rather than some French joke about it
being a right [censored]!!

T

"Todd Mathews" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

After watching the Tour de France this year I did note the mention of

class

Quoted message said:

1 and 2 climbs. Does anyone know the different classes of climbs and what constitutes each?

There are 5 climb classifications: HC (Hors Category), 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

There are no definitive rules for classifying climbs. The rating of climbs takes into account a
number of factors, such as:
- length
- steepness
- position of the climb within the stage
- road surface quality
- custom and tradition

The tour organisers may take into account all the above factors when categorising a climbs into one
of the 5 categories. The only thing you can really be sure of is that HC climbs are the pretty hard
and 4th category are relatively easy.

Trevor.

So then the next question would be... Anyone familiar with Mount Lemmon in Tucson, well what is left
of it. It is about a 27 mile ride starting at 2400 feet or so and topping out at 9000 feet. I am
assuming that would probably be a cat 1? I am just dreaming of doing just 1 mountain stage in France
one day and trying to figure out what to expect.