kkapdolee

It always confused me how the general classification (yellow jersey), points classification (green jersey), King of the mountain (polka dot jersey) as well as the best young rider and most aggressive riders were determined.

Yellow jersey: person with the least overall time completing stage 1 through 21 regardless of intermediate sections or points, etc. Is this correct? But over a 100 riders start each stage and some start out on the front while some on the back. Do they assume everyone's starting time is the same and determine their ride time based on their time crossing the finish line? People cross the starting line at different times but are held to the same finishing line time? That distance probably doesn't matter that much after a couple of hundred kilometer ride but still it's not exactly the same standard for someone who starts at the front as opposed to the back but little advantage can go a long way when a stage is won by mere centimeters as they are in some sprint stages. I guess in sprint stages the 3 km mark is when the time stops as long as you're in the same group you get the same points as everyone. But in terms of Green jersey points, where you start in the race could make a different couldn't it? Who determines where each riders starts in the race? Do they rotate this around?

Green jersey: I understand there are a bunch of intermediate sprint sections on certain stages and the top finishers of each section gets certain number of points. What if there is a breakout? Let's say the leader group of 3 riders cross the starting point of the sprint section 3 minutes before and finishes 2:55 before the peloton. Essentially they have taken 5 more seconds to complete the sprint section so do they not get the points even though they crossed the finishing line of the section before the peloton? Or is the time counted from the beginning of the stage to whoever crosses the end of the sprint section regardless of where the sprint section starts and ends?

Polka dot jersey: Same question as the green jersey. How are the winners determined when the climbing section begins and ends in the middle of the stage?

White jersey: Is this essentially the a GC contest among riders under 25 with the same exact rules as GC?

Most aggressive rider: Is this determined by the race officials with no objective points system?

Thanks in advance!

PepeM

Wow, way to overthink it.

Yellow jersey: Everyone gets the same start time. Time stops when they cross the finish line. Groups get timed together so if you go in with a bunch of twenty (or two) it doesn't matter whether you go in first or last, you're getting the same time. The 3km rule is just there for non-mountain finishes and means that if you crash within said distance from the end, you get the time whichever group you were in gets.

White jersey: Exact same thing.

Green and Polka dot: Whoever crosses the Sprint/KOM line first (and second, third, etc.) gets the points. Time differences or where they started or whether in a break or the peloton or anything else does not matter. The place you cross in determines the points you get. That simple.

EDIT: You're right on the most aggressive rider.

PepeM

I guess the Green/Polka dot confusion comes from Zwift, where there is a beginning and an end and who 'wins' is based on time. That's not how it works in real racing.

redfooj

The race is "neutralized" at the very start, so all riding is a slow tempo until the race director drops the flag.

So if you wanted to jockey to be in the very front at the beginning, you can.

But in terms of overall results, it is meaningless.

The reason is the that true time separation doesn't occur from start to finish, because unlike a TT stage, riders aren't going 100% full gas from start to finish.

Time separation is triggered by sprints or attacks on the climbs. (Or crashes or wind splits). Until those moments occur, you've got the entirety of the race, to position yourself with relative ease.

So yes, while stages may be won by seconds or fractions of seconds...those fractions of seconds were decided at the very end of stages, and not really the 190km leading up to it.

redfooj

^substitute intermediate sprint banners for race ends. Same thing....guys vying for green Jersey points at the 50km marker aren't doing it from 0km-50km , the fight isn't really "on" until just before the marker

smarkinson

Green jersey points are awarded to whoever crosses the sprint line first. Points are awarded for the first 15 places. The number of points depends on the type of stage. 50 points for winner of a flat stage, 30 for a hilly stage and 20 for a mountain, time trial or intermediate sprint.

Polka dot points are awarded for whoever crosses the summit of the mountain first (not how long it takes to climb the mountain). The number of points depends on the mountain classification. Cat 4 gives only 1 point to the first placed rider only. HC gives 25 points to first place and awards points down to 10th. If the finish of the stage is a mountain then those points are doubled.

You will have riders who will target the green or polka dot jersey. These riders will sometimes attempt to get into an early breakaway simply to collect points on early climbs or the intermediate sprints. Peter Sagan was doing this a lot in the final stages gaining points in the intermediate sprints while his rivals were back in the peloton.

You may also see teammates try to defend the lead of a teammate by trying to take points of their rivals by contesting a sprint or climb.

big chainring 

I remember doing points races where there were sprints for points every couple laps for first thru third place, double points on the last sprint. Same for Madison races. And there was some provision for lapped riders. They could still score points or something. It could get really complicated. I volunteered ONCE, that was enough, to score a race. It was crazy.

kbarch

This isn't intuitive, but it makes sense, and explains a lot of what goes on over the course of several days.