Tour de France: What Do the Different Jersey Colors Mean?
In the Tour de France, there are several races within the big race. A different colored jersey distinguishes the leader of each of these competitions within the three week tour.
Yellow Jersey: The yellow jersey is worn by the rider who has the fastest time up to that point in the race. This is the ultimate prize for a tour rider. Only the team captains who can ride well in the time trials and in the mountains can compete for the yellow jersey. These riders are called GC, or general classification riders. They lead each of their respective teams, and a team with a man in contention for yellow will go to great lengths to help their man get in yellow.
Green Jersey: The green jersey is given to the best sprinter. Riders competing for the green jersey are the super fast sprinters who are usually a bit larger and more muscular than the GC riders. There are points given to the final sprint finish and to intermediate sprints along each day’s route. The man with the most points wears the green jersey.
King of the Mountains: The polka dot King of the Mountains jersey is given to the best mountain climber. These guys are the opposite of the sprinters. They are wiry and thin with great lungs, able to zoom up the mountains and leave the larger sprinters behind. Much like the green jersey competition, the polka dot competition gives points for the first few riders to reach the top of difficult mountain passes.
White Jersey: The white jersey is given to the best young rider under 26.
Each team would love to win the yellow jersey, but is a team doesn’t have a high placed GC rider, then the team could very well ride in support of a teammate in contention for one of the other jerseys.
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