The Queen of the Mountains (QOM) is the title awarded to the best female climber in a cycling stage race. While the term is often used colloquially on platforms like Strava to denote the fastest woman on a specific segment, in professional racing, it represents a prestigious secondary classification. Riders accumulate points by being among the first to reach the summits of categorized climbs—ranging from the relatively shallow “Category 4” to the grueling “Hors Catégorie” (HC), or “beyond categorization.” The leader of this classification wears a distinctive jersey, most famously the Polka Dot Jersey in the Tour de France Femmes.
The resurgence of elite women’s stage racing, headlined by the Tour de France Femmes and the Giro d’Italia Women, has brought the QOM competition into the global spotlight. Winning the QOM requires a specialized physiological profile: an exceptional power-to-weight ratio and a high lactate threshold. Tactically, teams often deploy “climbers” into a breakaway early in a stage to hunt for points at the summits, even if they aren’t contenders for the overall General Classification (GC). The QOM title is a badge of courage and suffering, symbolizing a rider’s ability to master the most legendary peaks in the sport, from the Alpe d’Huez to the Col du Tourmalet.
