Hillclimbing (cycling)

Hill climbing is a cycling event, as well as a basic skill of the sport. A hill climb is a competition of sustained climbing, that finishes at a higher altitude than the start line. Occasionally featured as stages in major professional races, such as the Tour de France, they are usually referred to as mountain stages. Mountain stages may take the form of a normal road race stage, or an individual time trials. Time trial stages are not necessarily from the bottom to the top of a hill, and can simply be a time trial over hilly terrain. As events, a hill climb may either be an individual time trial (which forbids cooperation, drafting, or team tactics), a road race or in some cases a gravel race.