This is my first year following racing and was a bit confused why the yellow jersey for overall is more prestigious than the green jersey. If one is for points and one is for overall lowest time, why is the yellow so much more difficult? Also what gains you points for the green jersey thanks.

Oh and while I'm at it, is the white jersey decided by overall lowest time by a young person.

Points are determined from points paying sprints (sometimes finishes). Yellow must be a better generalist (climber, TT, flats, everything) where Green is more of a sprinters jersey. White is essentially the same as yellow for riders under 26.

Thanks.

Oh and one last one, as far as the polka dot jersey goes, that's for overall best time on the mountain stages?

Ok you have the Yellow and White jersey criteria right.
The Green is won for points accumulated as you noted. There are points to be won at the
indermediate sprints in the stages and points for the top 25 finishers of the stage.The
amount of points for each place varies by stage type, i.e. flat, mountain etc.

I can't find the exact breakdown at the moment. Someone probably explained it better while
I was composing this anyway.

Marty

Oh and one last one, as far as the polka dot jersey goes, that's for overall best time on the mountain stages?

Mountain points are allotted similar to Sprint points and have nothing to do with time on the stage.

More points are awarded for 'harder' climbs, based on a 4, 3, 2, 1, HC (Hors categorie) system, with 4 the easiest and lowest awarded points up to HC, which awards points toward the polka dots in huge numbers.

Great, i think that pretty much answers my questions.

Mountain points are allotted similar to Sprint points and have nothing to do with time on the stage.

More points are awarded for 'harder' climbs, based on a 4, 3, 2, 1, HC (Hors categorie) system, with 4 the easiest and lowest awarded points up to HC, which awards points toward the polka dots in huge numbers.

Don't forget that in the past couple of years they have added the twist that there are double points for the last climb of a stage when it is cat 2 or higher (1 or HC).

One early question is why is Yellow more important than green. Part is it just worked out that way. In hte early years there was only one championship and a few times it was various thnigs like the Green Jersey. (One variation was placing on each stage lowest total wins).

But the major tours have grown and now winning a stage, any stage is a big deal. It would be a real mess if on flat stages riders with GC hopes were competing with the sprinters. (For simialr reasons all riders in a group are given the same time, even though today it is possible to time everyone to one 100th of a second on each stage).

Lotek mentioned different stages. I he mentioned that there are different points for different kinds. The most points are for flat stages, next most for rolling. I always forget if the least is Mountian or ITT. No points for TTT. For the 'big' championship that would be strange, the most points for the easiest stages! But for a sprinters championship it makes sense.

Oh and one unmentioned bit. For any of the Jerseys you have to finish.

Yes, climbs are not timed, rather first through the measured climb gets max points, next few spots get fewer points. The climbs begin with a polka dot kite and end at the summit (also under a kite). There are some other rules for KOM climbs too, such as allowable support.

Typically, green jersey combatants are also in the mix for the Classics (such as Paris-Roubaix) and/or pure sprinters (often track riders like Cavendish). On mountain top finishes, these guys are typically rolling into hanging off the back (groupetto).

I can't find the exact breakdown at the moment. Someone probably explained it better while
I was composing this anyway.


nick, go to: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/tour08/?id=stages and click on 'results' for different stages. You'll find points awarded for intermediate sprints (6,4,2 for first, second, third) and points awarded for the stage finish (which, as lotek notes, vary by stage). You'll also find the cumulative points up to that particular stage.