Tour de France 2022: Yellow, green, mountain jersey & white explained - the regulations
Tour Magazin
· 20.07.2022
The yellow jersey
The leader in the overall standings at the Tour de France receives the yellow jersey - often also called the maillot jaune. In other words, the rider with the lowest overall time - including time credits and penalties.
Time credits ...
... are awarded at the finish on all stages (except for the individual time trials). The first three riders are credited 10, 6 and 4 seconds respectively.
In the event that two riders finish in the same time, the hundredths of a second from the individual time trials will be used for the classification. If there is still no decision, the positions at the end of the individual stages of the Tour de France are added together - the rider with the lower number wins. If there is still no winner, the position at the finish of the last stage counts.
VIDEO: 15 Tour de France terms explained
The three-kilometre rule ...
... spares riders who crash in the last three kilometres or whose bike has a defect. It applies to stages 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, 16, 19 and 21. These riders receive the same time as the group they were in at the time of the mishap.
At the finish of these stages (except stages 5 and 16), groups with a gap of up to three seconds will be counted with the same time. On all other stages of the tour, a new time is taken from one second gap.
The green jersey
The leader in the points classification wears the green jersey at the Tour de France - but this is not always necessarily the fastest sprinter.
How does the points classification work at the Tour de France?
Points are awarded to the first 15 riders at the daily finish and the intermediate sprint. Depending on the type and difficulty of the stage, each stage is given a coefficient from 1 to 6, which means that there are different numbers of points to be scored at the daily finish. Traditionally, and due to the distribution of points, which favours winners on flat stages, the winner of this classification is also called the best sprinter of the Tour.
The distribution of points for the green jersey on the stages of the 2022 Tour de France
On stages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13, 15, 19 and 21, which have a coefficient of 1 or 2, there are 50-30-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-7-6-5- 4-3-2 points for the first 15 riders at the finish.
On stages 7, 10, 14, 16, which have a coefficient of 3, there are 30-25-22-19-17-15-13-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2 points for the first 15 riders at the finish.
On stages 9,11, 12, 17, 18, which have a coefficient of 4 and 5, there are 20-17-15-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 points for the first 15 riders at the finish.
In the two individual time trials (stage 1 and 20), which have a coefficient of 6, the top 15 finishers of the stage will receive 20-17-15-13-11-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Intermediate sprints
There will be an intermediate sprint on every stage of the 2022 Tour de France (except for the two individual time trials). The first 15 riders at the intermediate sprint will receive points for the green jersey - the points key: 20-17-15-13-11-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
The mountain jersey
The jersey with the red dots on a white background (also known as the dotted jersey) is worn by the rider who has collected the most points in the mountain classifications.
The climbs in the Tour de France are categorised according to their length, difficulty and sporting importance - from HC (Hors Categorie or category of honour) down to the 4th category. Points are awarded according to the category - here is the scheme.
Hors Categorie: 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 points for the first eight drivers
1st category: 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 point for the first six riders
2nd category: 5, 3, 2, 1 point for the first four drivers
3rd category: 2, 1 point for the first two riders
4th category: 1 point for the first driver
Where the individual mountain classifications are located on the stages, see the profiles in our stage overview.
The white jersey
The white jersey is worn by the best-placed young professional in the overall standings of the Tour de France. All riders born after 1 January 1997 will fall into this category in 2022.
The team ranking
The leading team in the team classification wears yellow start numbers. To determine the team classification, the riding times of the three best riders of each team are added together.
Most combative driver
The most combative rider of the previous stage wears the red back number. The so-called Prix de la combativite is awarded by a jury chaired by the race director on all mass start stages - except the final stage. In Paris, the most combative rider of the entire Tour (super-combatif) is honoured.
The ranking of the jerseys ...
... is mandatory: If a rider leads in several classifications, yellow must be worn before green, followed by the dotted jersey and the white jersey. The next rider in the respective classification then wears the jersey.
The time limit (grace period)
The maximum gap that a rider can allow himself to be behind the stage winner at the finish of a stage is called the time limit or grace time: depending on the coefficient of a stage (see image below), based on the length, difficulty and pace of the stage winner, a percentage mark-up on the winner's riding time determines how much more time the last riders on a stage are allowed to take - otherwise they risk disqualification.
The coefficients of the stages of the 2022 Tour de France
Example for calculating the waiting period
An example calculation will illustrate the whole thing. Let's assume that the difficult mountain stage of the 2022 Tour de France to Alpe d'Huez is ridden by the winner at an average speed of 36 km/h in 4 hours and 42 minutes (i.e. 282 minutes). Coefficient 5 is specified for the stage, which states that at an average speed of 36 km/h, a rider receives 17 per cent of the winning time as a grace period. The value of 17 per cent is fixed by the organiser in the regulations (see illustration).
In our case, at 17 per cent of 282 minutes, that would be 47:56 minutes, which would be the grace time on this stage. Under certain circumstances, however, the jury can also raise the limit and prevent riders from being excluded.
The percentage mark-ups for the individual coefficients
The calculated average speeds and times of the stages
Stage 6: Start: 12:15, Finish: 44 km/h 17:15, 42 km/h 17:29, 40 km/h 17:45
Stage 7: Start: 13:15, Finish: 44 km/h 17:17, 42 km/h 17:29, 40 km/h 17:43
Stage 8: Start: 13:20, Finish: 45 km/h 17:28, 43 km/h 17:40, 41 km/h 17:53
Stage 9: Start: 12:45, Finish: 41 km/h 17:28, 39 km/h 17:44, 37 km/h 18:02
Stage 10: Start: 13:40, Finish: 45 km/h 16:58, 43 km/h 17:08, 41 km/h 17:18
Stage 11: Start: 12:30, Finish: 36 km/h 16:40, 34 km/h 16:54, 32 km/h 17:13
Stage 12: Start: 13:20, Finish: 36 km/h 17:52, 34 km/h 18:08, 32 km/h 18:28
Stage 13: Start: 13:20, Finish: 47 km/h 17:26, 45 km/h 17:37, 43 km/h 17:49
Stage 14: Start: 12:30, Finish: 42 km/h 17:07, 40 km/h 17:21, 38 km/h 17:37
Stage 15: Start: 13:15, Finish: 46 km/h 17:39, 44 km/h 17:51, 42 km/h 18:04
Stage 16: Start: 12:40, Finish: 41 km/h 16:58, 39 km/h 17:11, 37 km/h 17:27
Stage 17: Start: 13:25, Finish: 38 km/h 16:48, 36 km/h 17:00, 34 km/h 17:14
Stage 18: Start: 13:40, Finish: 38 km/h 17:25, 36 km/h 17:38, 34 km/h 17:54
Stage 19: Start: 13:10, Finish: 46 km/h 17:16, 44 km/h 17:27, 42 km/h 17:39
Stage 20: Start first rider 13:05, estimated finish first rider: 14:04
Stage 20: Start last rider 17:00, estimated finish last rider: 17:49
Stage 21: Start: 16:45, finish: 43 km/h 19:26, 41 km/h 19:34, 39 km/h 19:43
In addition to the sporting rules, corona is once again an issue at the Tour de France. The UCI, the world cycling organisation, has issued specific instructions on this.
What coronavirus rules apply at the Tour de France?
Before the start of the Tour de France and on two rest days, only rapid antigen tests instead of PCR tests must be carried out on all riders and team members. In addition, there is no longer a rule that a team is removed from the race as soon as two riders test positive.
A positive rapid test must be confirmed by a PCR, but this does not necessarily mean the end of the Tour de France. In exceptional cases, the chief physician of the UCI and the Covid doctor of the Tour de France organiser ASO can decide that a rider may continue to ride. To do so, it must be ensured that the infected person is not contagious and cannot transmit the coronavirus.
