I am on record on more than one occasion saying that Phil Gaimon is a seriously smart and funny guy. He is one of the best writers in cycling. The following (copyright Velo) appears in the print edition of the Velo (VeloNews) August 2015.
"Fans and media love asking some form of "How hard is that climb?" They want you to say that the climb in their neighborhood or race is the hardest, steepest, and longest you have ever done. I have news for you: plenty of climbs are hard, but the big ones are all about the same. Sure, they might each have their own personality, but the worst city planners try not to pave roads that are steeper than 14 percent. So start there, add in a few steeper pitches, bad pavement, maybe some weather, and that's the hardest climb in the world. I've raced a lot of climbs like that. "Hardest climb in the world" is a 500-way tie."
"What makes a climb hard in a race is who you're racing against, and what the race situation is. Alpe d'Huez is impossible if you're the guy trying to hang with Contador, but it's cake in the grupetto."
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