What is a category HC climb?
Climb Categories. HC – Hors Categorie. From the French term meaning beyond categorisation. The toughest of the tough. The longest or steepest climbs, often both combined.
How does Tour de France categorize climbs?
The climbs are divided into categories from 1 (most difficult) to 4 (least difficult) based on their difficulty, measured as a function of their steepness, length, location within the stage (near the start or end), and location in the overall race (early in the race or toward the end).
What is a category 5 climb in cycling?
All climb scores are based on distance, grade/elevation change, and maximum elevation. Cat 5 Climb – These rated climbs are the least difficult of all the categorized climbs. The exactly same methodology is used in determining their difficulty as Cat 4 climbs but they the least difficult of all the rated climbs.
What are the categories of climbs?
If the minimum criteria are met, climbs are classified according to the following points scale:
- 8,000 or greater: Category 4.
- 16,000 or greater: Category 3.
- 32,000 or greater: Category 2.
- 64,000 or greater: Category 1.
- 80,000 or greater: Hors Catégorie.
What makes a HC climb?
Hors catégorie (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is “beyond categorization”. The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is the most difficult type of climb in a race.
What does HC mean on Strava?
Hors Categorie
HC (Hors Categorie) > 80000.
What is a cat 4 climb in cycling?
“The easiest is a Category 4, which is typically less than 2km long and about 5 percent grade, or up to 5km at a 2-3 percent grade. A Category 3 can be as short as one mile with a very steep grade, perhaps 10 percent; or as long as six miles with a grade less than 5 percent.
Which category climb is hardest?
HC climb
The HC climb is the most difficult type of climb in a race. It is more demanding than a Category 1 climb which in turn is more demanding than a Category 2 climb and so on. The easiest category is Category 4. These five categories are defined by their steepness and length.
How many HC climbs are there in the Tour de France?
For instance, a climb that would normally be a Category 1 climb can become a HC climb if it is the final climb of a stage. The average HC climb in the Tour de France from 2012 to 2016 is 16.1 kilometers long and has a grade of 7.4. There are around 7 HC climbs per Tour.
Which is the second climb in the Tour de France?
The second climb up Mont Ventoux is from the more traditional side starting in Bedoin. Each of the climbs is given a categorisation which is an indication of the difficulty of the climb. Hors category (HC) are the toughest climbs followed by category 1, category 2, category 3 and category 4.
What does HC stand for in the Tour de France?
HC or “Hors Category”: This is a slick French term that means the climb is above categorization. These are the days that sprinters buy streamers for . . . as decorations for their pity party. Long climbs.
What is Category 2 in the Tour de France?
Category 2: Longer climbs that are sometimes steeper. Heavier breathing for the peloton, but they’re probably still humming whatever tune keeps their minds off the men in devil costumes (or worse) running alongside them up the climbs.