Tour De France Fog

[agardener]

Hi, can someone please explain the tour de france scoring system in simple english and without jargon.
I understand the overall winner is the cyclist with the lowest overall aggregate time of the 21 stages and there are extra prizes for sprints and the mountains and young competitors.
But if time is the decider what are these points they can get and how do they relate to the time?
Also if they ride as team, how come an individual can win and not it seems one that wins a lot of stages.

[jourdain2]

Sorry, no, I can't. It's incomprehensible to me. I've only posted an answer to make you feel that you are not alone. :)

[DTCwordfan]

races within races is the system, the ultimate the winner (Frome) for the lowest time overall....one point of clarification being when a group such as the peleton comes in, everybody in the group scores the same time behind the winner......

[Cloverjo]

Points are available for winning stages. People like Froome sometimes win stages, but usually the sprinters - like Mark Cavendish - contest the non-hilly ones. The green jersey goes to the man with the most stage-winning points. His overall time is not relevant.

[agardener]

Thanks jourdain 2, it's good to know it's not just me. As to your answers DTCwordfan and Cloverjo, I'm sure you were trying to help but I've moved from "in a fog" to "clear as mud", e.g. I still don't know why they need points when the winner is judged by lowest aggregate time. Maybe I'll never know.

[ChillDoubt]

The GCN Channel on YouTube provides a wealth of information explaining how the GC(Shortest time) Green (Points), Polka Dot(King of the Mountains) and White(Best Young Rider aged under 25) jerseys are earned:

[ChillDoubt]

[ChillDoubt]

[ToraToraTora]

there are basically 5 races going on:
1) The General Classification - Yellow
2) The sprinters race - Green
3) King of the mountains - Polka dot
4) Young rider - White - usually new riders < 2 years experience + age variants, rules change.
5) Team contest.

all the riders are in all the classifications except for 4). The young riders are in all the classifications.

So the yellow jersey is the rider with the lowest overall time. While that is going on the green jersey is for the sprint competition, sprint points are awarded at the end of the stages (not mountains) and also at key points in the stage(prize money too). The green jersey is the rider leading this competition. Similarly points are awarded in the mountains stages, the leader of this wears the polka dot jersey. The white Jersey is the GC for young riders similar to yellow.

Now it is possible for the GC riders (yellow/white) to pick up points for both the polka dot and the green jersey and indeed the yellow jersey is often also the King of the mountains. So that is possibly where some of the confusion comes from.

Basically it gives many riders something to aim for. The big teams concentrate on getting their man the YJ and keeping it. The sprinters teams know they cannot win the tour but they can win the green Jersey.

Only once has the overall winner also been Green and polka dot winner too. YJ winner often wins the polka dot too though as only a good climber can actually win the GC. Hope that helps.

[New Judge]

Only a personal opinion (and by no means an answer to the question) but whilst cycling (on the road) is a probably a fine sport in which to participate, as a spectator sport it must come a very close second only to golf as an utter bore. Standing by the side of a road halfway up a French mountain to watch a few dozen bikers and their assorted entourages wizz by in a few seconds (or a bit longer if you are on an uphill stretch) must be almost on par with watching two blokes trudge across a field (which 95% of golf consists of).

It can be sparked up all you like with different coloured jumpers, but the end result is a few seconds, or perhaps a minute or two depending on how strung out the field is, of bikes, cars (with bikes strapped to the roof), more bikes and motor bikes belt past. Sorry, not for me. It is obviously for the French as the impact of the Tour on the French economy is vast, with huge numbers of people taking time off to watch it.

In recent years this inexplicable mania has spread to the UK. Only this coming weekend the poor residents of Surrey and many other areas will once again be confined to barracks whilst some bike race or other wends its way from London and over Box Hill. There are plenty of cycle tracks where these events can be held and spectators can watch the entire event from the comfort of a seat. I especially like the race where one bloke dressed as a postman has the advantage of being on a moped. Eminently more sensible and far more entertaining than standing on a windy mountainside.

[ToraToraTora]

As a follower of cycling judge, I do agree it's dull to watch which is why I tend to watch the ITV4 1 hour summary of each stage to make it tolerable.

[Cloverjo]

I'm a big fan of cycling, NJ. Both types of cycling, track and road can be exciting as long as you can see the whole thing. I stood at the side of a road once to watch the peloton go by, and I agree, I can't see the point of it.
I do love watching the TdF on TV.
I liked your description of the keiren track race :)

[New Judge]

Yes, the Madison is quite a hoot too. Again, at least spectators can see the whole thing (even if they - along with most of the competitors - are not quite sure who has won). Agree with the idea of watching the TdeF on TV. At least you get a good helping of all of the race.