Searching for the facts:
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE CLIMBS IN THE 2017 TOUR ?
THE SHORT VERSION

This is an abbreviated version of the main analysis of the categorized Tour climbs 2017. In a nutshell, here are the most noticeable tendencies this year:

· There are far less categorized climbs than what has been the average since 2012: 53 climbs this year versus an average of 59
· In four out of the five categories (from category 4 to category HC), the climbs are shorter than normal. For example the HC climbs and the category 1-climbs are in average around two kilometers shorter
· The steepness of the climbs has not gone up and thus doesn't compensate for the reduced lengths. So the climbs, already low in numbers, are less demanding this year than usual
· Category 2 is the category with the lowest number of climbs (only 5). Thus, the problem with this category being neglected year after year continues

Here you see an overview of the stats from this year's Tour de France, combined with a comparison regarding last year and the average in the Tour era of 2012-2017:

AVERAGES OF CLIMBS IN 2017 (compared to earlier climbs):
Category		Length (km)	Diff.: 2016	Diff.: 2012-2017		Grade (avg. %)	Diff.: 2016	Diff.: 2012-2017		Fre­quency	Diff.: 2016	Diff.: 2012-2017
HC		13.6	+0.5	-2.1		8.0	+0.1	+0.6		7	+-0	+0.3
Cat. 1		8.9	-2.8	-2.1		7.4	+0.4	+0.3		11	-3	+0.7
Cat. 2		5.1	-1.1	-1.0		6.4	-0.7	-0.2		5	-2	-3.8
Cat. 3		3.4	-0.9	-0.4		6.3	+0.9	+- 0		14	+2	-0.2
Cat. 4		2.6	+0.4	+0.5		4.8	-0.3	-0.4		16	-2	-3.2

You'll find extended analyses here:

· The climbs 2017 - What has happened to the climbs of the 2017 Tour?
· The climbs 2016 - Ten years of Tour climbs, what has changed?
· The climbs 2015 - Looking for new trends
· The climbs 2014 - Climbs changing: Steeper and shorter

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