The hardest climb in the world has a new KOM

What is the hardest road KOM in the world? Former professional cyclist Phil Gaimon is clear about it: the nearly 90 kilometers of ascent to Mauna Kea in Hawaii, whose Strava KOM he has managed to reclaim for the third time.

This is Mauna Kea, which many consider to be the hardest climb in the world

Many ascents have always vied to be the most demanding in road cycling, a classification in which we usually focus on climbs that have been ascended in competitions in Europe. A subgroup in which names like Angliru, Finestre, or Zoncolan often come up.

However, cycling tourism and Strava have allowed us to discover genuinely wild climbs in other parts of the world that are undoubtedly a colossal challenge for anyone who simply wants to ride them. Not to mention climbing with everything in search of the best record.

Mauna Kea, Waikoloa Village, United States

• Distance: 85.5 km, Elevation Gain: 4201 m, Average Gradient: 5.3 %

And among those that always appear in the rankings of the hardest climbs in the world, one name is recurrent: Mauna Kea in Hawaii, a beast of 85 kilometers that starts practically at sea level. In fact, the official Strava segment is 89 kilometers long and begins at Waikoloa Beach, ascending to a spectacular altitude of 4,207 m, which means more than 4,000 m of elevation gain.

As if that weren't enough, three-quarters of the ascent has very contained gradients, between 5 and 7%, leaving a final third that is truly inhumane, already at an altitude where performance drops considerably, with the gradient mercilessly above 10%. To top it off, halfway up, the asphalt disappears for 10 kilometers.

 

 

 

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A post shared by Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon)

It took Phil Gaimon 4 hours, 34 minutes, and 10 seconds to reach the summit and set a new record on the Strava KOM leaderboard for this climb, an effort for which he needed to average 271 W, and it was his peculiar way of celebrating his 40th birthday. In this way, the former cyclist reclaims for the second time a throne that was taken from him in 2023 by Tudor cyclist Larry Warbasse and last April by a local amateur cyclist, the only three records that have managed to go under 5 hours on this terrible ascent.