KoM's (the real ones)

ben@31

I was wondering how many Brit cyclists have worn the maillot à pois rouge in the Tour de France, is it just Robert Millar ?

How come the French, Spanish and Italians have dominated ?

timothyw

I think the lack of mountains in the UK probably comes into it!

Here's the breakdown if you want to see the nationalities of overall winners, although that isn't what you're asking:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_th ... ur_by_year

Froome was the leader of the KoM points category for 6 stages in 2013, although as race leader obviously appeared in yellow. In 2012 he must have worn it though as he lead the KOM competition for 1 stage.

David Millar held it for two stages in 2007.

Tom Simpson never held it, although he famously was the first Brit to wear yellow.

Chris Boardman never held it, although he was in yellow numerous times as a result of his prologue dominance - it appears they had some unusual criteria for awarding it on the first stage!

Beyond that, I'm stumped - might just be those three.

ben@31

TimothyW wrote:

I think the lack of mountains in the UK probably comes into it!

I was considering that, but then again would they have not trained abroad. Especially if they were on foreign teams? Unless it helped to be a climber from a very early age like Pantani ?

imposter2.0

TimothyW wrote:

Chris Boardman never held it, although he was in yellow numerous times as a result of his prologue dominance - it appears they had some unusual criteria for awarding it on the first stage!

I know - giving it to the rider with the fastest time - unbelievable..!!

crankycrank

ben@31 wrote:

How come the French, Spanish and Italians have dominated ?

They have by far had the most riders in the tour over the years. Plenty of other nationalities have won with just a handful of riders from their countries competing.

IanRCarter

Imposter wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

Chris Boardman never held it, although he was in yellow numerous times as a result of his prologue dominance - it appears they had some unusual criteria for awarding it on the first stage!

I know - giving it to the rider with the fastest time - unbelievable..!!

I think he meant criteria for awarding the polka dot jersey after a prologue. The stage winner is obviously in yellow, they also are the points leader having won the stage and therefore scoring the most points (I think the scoring for a stage like this is similar to a summit finish, not a flat stage?). The polka dot jersey isn't awarded in this situation as there aren't any climbs, which is why Boardman never wore it despite leading the race after the prologue.

ddraver

TimothyW wrote:

I think the lack of mountains in the UK probably comes into it!

I think the massive emphasis on time trialling in the Uk was the biggest problem...

As Boulting says, we re the cycling equivalent of the Galapagos Islands.

Tiesetrotter

So my only KOM that is a small back road between Penge and Sydenham isn't in this discussion?

Highly useful to know that I can outrun any of the local dangerous wildlife though.

simon_masterson

ddraver wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

I think the lack of mountains in the UK probably comes into it!

I think the massive emphasis on time trialling in the Uk was the biggest problem...

As Boulting says, we re the cycling equivalent of the Galapagos Islands.

That - and I don't think Boardman would have been in contention anyway, based on his fortunes in grand tours.

timothyw

Simon Masterson wrote:

ddraver wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

I think the lack of mountains in the UK probably comes into it!

I think the massive emphasis on time trialling in the Uk was the biggest problem...

As Boulting says, we re the cycling equivalent of the Galapagos Islands.

That - and I don't think Boardman would have been in contention anyway, based on his fortunes in grand tours.

Oh yeah, Boardman was no climber, my only point is, if you look at this table of category leaders over the tour in 1997:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Tour_ ... leadership
Cyrille Saugrain is leading the KOM classification after the prologue - why? He didn't even finish top 10 in the stage.

Might just be an erroneous entry on the wiki (as generally they wouldn't award it for a prologue stage) or perhaps they had some kind of hill along the prologue and he was the first to that point of the course, still, seems a bit odd.

ben@31

TimothyW wrote:

Cyrille Saugrain is leading the KOM classification after the prologue - why? He didn't even finish top 10 in the stage.

Might just be an erroneous entry on the wiki (as generally they wouldn't award it for a prologue stage) or perhaps they had some kind of hill along the prologue and he was the first to that point of the course, still, seems a bit odd.

Thats quite interesting as that prologue was only a 4.5 mile time trial in Rouen. Must have been a speed bump somewhere?