Tour de France Jersey's

Within the structure of the Tour de France are a number of competitions - top of the tree is the yellow jersey worn by the race leader, followed by the best in the King of the Mountain's and Points standing. A red and white polka dot jersey is worn by the former and green for the later. Finally there is the white of the leading young rider.

Each jersey is highly coveted and widely reported by the press, especially their appearances on the podium after each stage. There is a special shirt printing machine ready and waiting to have the rider's sponsors logo emblazoned on the Tour leaders jersey's.

Yellow Jersey (Leader of the General Classification)

The yellow jersey of the Tour de France is one of the most recognisable symbols in any sport, and has been widely adopted by other cycle stage races. It is worn by the race leader, who at the start of any stage is the rider who has taken the least amount of time to cover the race so far. Know as the Yellow Jersey, he is described as being the leader on 'general classification' or 'G.C'. Where time bonuses are awarded, these are taken into account when deciding who wears the yellow jersey.

Alberto Contador in 2007 - Pic PJ Wright

The first yellow jersey is awarded to the winner of the prologue time trial. It can change hands at the end of any stage if a rider manages to finish far enough in front of the current holder. The right to wear the yellow jersey is considered a great honour amongst professional racing cyclists, and teams with a rider capable of leading the GC will expend a great deal of effort to win it. On the other hand, a team may decide that it is better in the early stages to relinquish the jersey than to spend too much energy trying to keep hold of it. Of course, as the race nears its final stages, the holder will fight to keep it at all costs.

Although synonymous with the Tour de France, the yellow jersey was not introduced until 1919, when it was worn by the great French rider Eugene Christophe on the Nice to Grenoble stage. Christophe was initially unwilling to wear the jersey, fearing that it would make him too obvious a target for his rivals. It very quickly gained acceptance when the riders realised that it would make the race leader more easily picked out by spectators. The colour yellow was chosen because the sports newspaper L'Auto, which started the race, was printed on yellow paper. The race leader of the Giro d'Italia, which is a stage race around Italy run on the same lines, wears a pink jersey because the event owes it existence to the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper, which is printed on pink paper.

In 1947 Jean Robic of France won the Tour despite never wearing the yellow jersey. He broke away from the peloton in company with the race leader, Pierre Brambilla, on the final stage and then dropped Brambilla, finishing the stage with a big enough time to win the GC. Today it is customary for the race to be decided on the second to last stage. The Yellow Jersey is not attacked on the last stage, and often celebrates with a glass of champagne in the middle of the peloton while the sprinters fight out the final stage finish.

2007
1. CONTADOR Alberto 112 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 91h 00' 26"
2. EVANS Cadel 41 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 91h 00' 49" + 00' 23"
3. LEIPHEIMER Levi 111 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 91h 00' 57" + 00' 31"
4. SASTRE Carlos 31 TEAM CSC 91h 07' 34" + 07' 08"
5. ZUBELDIA Haimar 71 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 91h 08' 43" + 08' 17"
6. VALVERDE Alejandro 18 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 91h 12' 03" + 11' 37"
7. KIRCHEN Kim 27 T-MOBILE TEAM 91h 12' 44" + 12' 18"
8. POPOVYCH Yaroslav 118 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 91h 12' 51" + 12' 25"
9. ASTARLOZA Mikel 73 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 91h 14' 40" + 14' 14"
10. PEREIRO SIO Oscar 11 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 91h 14' 51" + 14' 25

Polka Dot (Mountains Competition)

The Tour is built on two central premises; the first is that the event is held during the French holiday season placing millions of people in the French countryside and who take up the opportunity of a free show.

Mauricio Soler in 2007 - Pic PJ Wright

The second are the Alps and Pyrenean Mountains. It is on these mountain ranges that much of the high drama is played out, attracting huge crowds.

The King of the Mountains jersey is awarded to the rider who accumulates the highest number of points at the peak of the climb, the lowest are awarded on the small hills and the most for being first up the Hors category (Out of category) mountains.

In the early stages of the Tour before they hit the big climbs you will often find non- specialist climbers picking up enough points along the way to lead the competition, but once they reach the mountains riders take over.

Sadly it’s very rare for a specialist climber to win the Tour outright, as their slim build and light weight work against them on the long flat opening stages, long power climbs, and they are all but blown away in the time trial stages. The last great exception to the rule was the late Marco Pantoni in 1998.

The long ‘sprinters’ stages are run off at great speed and many climbers are simply too worn out by the time they reach the big climbs.

Tour winners such as Lance Armstrong and Eddy Merckx, may not necessarily win the KOM competition simultaneously (although Eddy once did) but they pick up enough points over the race to feature near the top The specialist climbers free from the concerns of the Tours General Classification can focus on the KOM and will attack with great verve, providing a great deal of excitement.

2007
1. SOLER HERNANDEZ Juan Mauricio 219 BARLOWORLD 206 pts
2. CONTADOR Alberto 112 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 128 pts
3. POPOVYCH Yaroslav 118 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 105 pts
4. EVANS Cadel 41 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 92 pts
5. LEFEVRE Laurent 125 BOUYGUES TELECOM 85 pts
6. GARATE Juan Manuel 174 QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC 77 pts
7. SASTRE Carlos 31 TEAM CSC 74 pts
8. COBO ACEBO Juan Jose 204 SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 68 pts
9. LEIPHEIMER Levi 111 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 64 pts
10. ZUBELDIA Haimar 71 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 64 pts

Points
• Category 1 passes: 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively to the first 8 riders to finish;
• Category 2 passes: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively to the first 6 riders to finish.
Points awarded for the category “non-graded”, 1 and 2 passes are doubled for the final pass of the stage.
• Category 3 passes: 4, 3, 2 and 1 point, respectively to the first 4 riders to finish;
• Category 4 passes: 3, 2, and 1 point, respectively to the first three riders to finish.
•“Non-graded” passes: (The hardest) 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the first 10 riders to finish

Green Jersey (Points Competition)

Points jersey, usually won by sprinter-types, with points given to the first 25 riders to finish each stage. First awarded 1953.

Tom Boonen in 2007 - Pic PJ Wright

Points are awarded at set points on route and at the end of the stage, the sponsors, PMU (French state betting), hand out big green fingers to the crowd near these points. This has been restricted in recent years as riders have been known to have been clattered by one when a spectator unintentionally sticks it over the barriers.

The 2008 should be a real battle, even without Tom Boonen, between Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), Robbie McEwen (Silence Lotto), Erik Zabel (Milram) and Daniele Bennati (Liquigas).

This fight amongst the fast finishers is designed by the Tour organisers to enliven the 21 stages particularly on the long flat days.

2007
1. BOONEN Tom 171 QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC 256 pts
2. HUNTER Robert 216 BARLOWORLD 234 pts
3. ZABEL Erik 181 TEAM MILRAM 232 pts
4. HUSHOVD Thor 101 CREDIT AGRICOLE 186 pts
5. CHAVANEL Sébastien 162 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 181 pts
6. BENNATI Daniele 82 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 160 pts
7. FÖRSTER Robert 92 GEROLSTEINER 140 pts
8. CANCELLARA Fabian 33 TEAM CSC 112 pts
9. EVANS Cadel 41 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 109 pts
10. CONTADOR Alberto 112 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 88 pts

White Jersey (Best Young Rider Competition)

Alberto Contador in 2007 - Pic PJ Wright

The Maillot blanc (French for white jersey) is the jersey given to the best young rider in the Tour de France as determined by the best overall time.

The winner must be under the age of 25 on January 1 the year of the Tour. The jersey holder is thus determined by looking at the general classification, then removing all riders born before the cut-off date.

Before 1975, awards of the maillot blanc had meant the lead rider in the Combination Classification (best rider in the overall, points and climbing competitions).

In 1975 the award of the Maillot Blanc was changed to the Best Young Rider Classification (less than 26 years of age) and calculated using the rankings for the maillot jaune.

2007
1. CONTADOR Alberto 112 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 91h 00' 26"
2. SOLER HERNANDEZ Juan Mauricio 219 BARLOWORLD 91h 17' 17" + 16' 51"
3. TXURRUKA Amets 78 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 91h 50' 00" + 49' 34"
4. KOHL Bernhard 95 GEROLSTEINER 92h 13' 53" + 1h 13' 27"
5. SIUTSOU Konstantsin 218 BARLOWORLD 92h 15' 42" + 1h 15' 16"
6. DEKKER Thomas 54 RABOBANK 92h 31' 00" + 1h 30' 34"
7. GERDEMANN Linus 25 T-MOBILE TEAM 92h 31' 13" + 1h 30' 47"
8. GUSEV Vladimir 113 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 92h 34' 16" + 1h 33' 50"
9. LÖVKVIST Thomas 168 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 93h 23' 16" + 2h 22' 50"
10. GRIVKO Andriy 184 TEAM MILRAM 93h 42' 07" + 2h 41' 41"

Team Competition (No jersey)

Each day the top three riders from each team are counted up to determine the winning team. In the past the leading team wore yellow caps but now they make do with a podium appearance.

2007
1. DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 273h 12' 52"
2. CAISSE D’EPARGNE 273h 32' 28" + 19' 36"
3. TEAM CSC 273h 35' 02" + 22' 10"
4. RABOBANK 273h 49' 16" + 36' 24"
5. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 273h 59' 38" + 46' 46"
6. SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 274h 57' 25" + 1h 44' 33"
7. PREDICTOR - LOTTO 275h 03' 13" + 1h 50' 21"
8. LAMPRE-FONDITAL 275h 32' 33" + 2h 19' 41"
9. CREDIT AGRICOLE 275h 38' 36" + 2h 25' 44"
10. AG2R PREVOYANCE 275h 39' 00" + 2h 26' 08"

Most combatative Rider (No jersey)

On each stage, judges decide who was the most combative rider that day, usually a rider who features in a long lone break or who animates the action is judged appropriate to wear a Red Number board on the following stage. At race end the judges look through their notes and find the rider who maintained their combativeness throughout.

2007
1. TXURRUKA Amets 78 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI