Qom

Qom  pronunciation  (Persian: قم‎‎), also spelled as Ghom; is the 8th largest city in Iran. It lies 125 kilometres (78 mi) by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2011 census its population was 1,074,036 (957,496 at the 2006 census, in 241,827 families), comprising 545,704 men and 528,332 women. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River. Qom enjoys a dry and warm climate with low annual rainfall due to remoteness from the sea and being situated in the vicinity of desert.

Qom is considered holy by Shi`a Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatema Mæ'sume, sister of Imam `Ali ibn Musa Rida (Persian Imam Reza, 789–816 AD). The city is the largest center for Shi'a scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage. Qom is famous for a brittle toffee called "Sohan" (Persian:سوهان), considered a souvenir of the city and sold by 2,000 to 2,500 "Sohan" shops.

Qom has developed into a lively industrial centre owing in part to its proximity to Tehran. It is a regional centre for the distribution of petroleum and petroleum products, and a natural gas pipeline from Bandar Anzali and Tehran and a crude-oil pipeline from Tehran run through Qom to the Abadan refinery on the Persian Gulf. Qom gained additional prosperity when oil fields were discovered at Sarajeh near the city in 1956 and a large refinery was built between Qom and Tehran.

Qom (River)

The Qom River receives its water from the Zagros Mountain and the Namak Lake; It is a large river in Iran. The Qom flows through the city of Qom, and together with the Qareh Su it gains a length of approximately 400 km (250 mi). The water level strongly fluctuates between 312 m³/s and only 4 m³/s. This is partially the effect of taking water for irrigation.

Coordinates: 34°29′02″N 51°34′35″E / 34.48389°N 51.57639°E / 34.48389; 51.57639

King of the Mountains

The King of the Mountains (KoM; Gran Premio della Montagna or GPM in Italian) is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification. For women's cycle racing, a similar term, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used.

While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest position over several designated climbs in a single-day road race, it is more usually applied to stage races (for example, the Grand Tours, Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España and smaller races like the Tour of California) where points are accumulated over the duration of the whole race.

In the Tour de France, at the top of each significant climb, points are awarded to the riders who are first over the top. The climbs are categorised from 1 (most difficult) to 4 (least difficult) based on their steepness and length. A fifth category, called Hors categorie (outside category) applies to mountains rated even more severe than first category. Similar ratings apply to climbs in the other major Tours.