Econometrists present 'less misleading' mountain classification for Tour de France

17 July 2008

The current Mountain Classification of the Tour de France is based on a points system whereby the first one up the mountain gets the most points.

This means that if less good climbers have a clear lead after the flat part before the climb they can steal points away from the real climbing specialists. This creates a misleading picture, in the opinion of the econometrists Prof. Gerard Sierksma and Bertus Talsma of the Faculty.

Today’s digital technology makes it possible to register the exact times taken in the actual climbs. Sierksma and Talsma introduced a new mountain classification based on the actual climbing times. Their King of the Mountains will be the fastest cyclist to climb all the mountains.

Current 'University of Groningen classification' after the Pyrenees:
	Team	Country	Climbing time	Time behind	Overall Class.	Mountain Class.
Leonardo Piepoli	SDV	ITA	3:54:09		24	6
Fränk Schleck	CSC	LUX	3:54:34	0:00:25	2	5
Juan José Cobo	SDV	ESP	3:54:34	0:00:25	8	7
Riccardo Riccò	SDV	ITA	3:55:06	0:00:58	9	1
Bernhard Kohl	GST	AUT	3:55:41	0:01:32	4	4
Cadel Evans	SIL	AUS	3:56:20	0:02:11	1	9
Carlos Sastre	CSC	EPS	3:56:26	0:02:17	6	17
Denis Menchov	RAB	RUS	3:56:27	0:02:18	5	13
Vladimir Efimkine	ALM	RUS	3:56:34	0:02:25	10	14
Moisés Dueñas	BAR	ESP	3:56:36	0:02:27	19	-
Christian Vande Velde	TSL	USA	3:56:42	0:02:33	3	31
Tadej Valjavec	ALM	SVN	3:57:48	0:03:39	15	-
Alejandro Valverde	GCE	EPS	3:57:51	0:03:42	14	21
Mikel Astarloza	EUS	EPS	3:58:10	0:04:01	11	27
Damiano Cunego	LAM	ITA	3:58:21	0:04:12	16	-
Kim Kirchen	THR	LUX	3:58:25	0:04:16	7	26
Stéphane Goubert	ALM	FRA	3:58:27	0:04:18	34	-
Vincenzo Nibali	LIQ	ITA	3:58:37	0:04:29	12	10
Laurens ten Dam	RAB	NED	3:58:43	0:04:34	23	-