Originally Posted by
Rotten Bastard
One small correction: I believe the order is actually the reverse of that for climbs, with 5 being the most difficult after hors categorie (HC).
Great info nevertheless.
No. 5 total categories with HC being most difficult and 1 being second most difficult. Legend (almost surely false) is that the original 1-4 were determined by the highest gear a car could make the climb in.
BTW a bit of trivia. Eddy Merckx never won a stage with a HC climb (Because the HC is a recent invention, no climbs were rated HC when he rode).