How Hard Is It?

Have you ever wondered what those numbers on the Tour de France profiles are all about? I mean the ones at the top of the climbs. We know they indicate the difficulty, but just how did they or do they decide what number to put on the climb? Here's a category decoder I found in Bicycling magazine and thought I'd share with you.

According to European cycling tradition, climbs fall into four categories based on their difficulty; a fifth, "hors categorie" (above category), is reserved for the most difficult routes. Here's the breakdown:

CAT 4: These easier climbs have average grades of 2 to 3 percent over 3 miles, or up to 5 percent for climbs shorter than a mile;

CAT 3: Climbs with grades that average less than 5 percent over 6 miles or much shorter ascents up to 10 percent;

CAT 2: Ascents up to 4 percent over 9 miles or with an 8-percent grade over 3 miles;

CAT 1: Climbs up to 12 miles long at 5 percent or 5-mile pitches at up to 8 percent;

HORS CATEGORIE: Average grades of 7 percent over at least 6 miles or 6-percent grades that span 15 miles or more