Tour de France Magazine 2019 | Page 90

THE REGULATIONS YELLOW JERSEY GREEN JERSEY POLKA-DOT JERSEY WHITE JERSEY The honour of wearing the yellow jersey goes to the day’s leader of the general classifi cation. Worn by the leader of the points classifi cation, with points available at the intermediate sprint and stage fi nishes, and more points up for grabs on fl at stages. Worn by the leader of the best climber classifi cation. Points are awarded at the summit of categorised climbs, with double points available on super-category passes and stage fi nishes. It is awarded each day to the best-placed young rider in the general classifi cation. All riders aged up to 25 in the calendar year are eligible for this competition. Prize: €500 000 to the fi nal winner Prize: €25 000 to the fi nal winner Prize: €25 000 to the fi nal winner Prize: €20 000 to the fi nal winner OTHER PRIZES: Stage victory (Continental): €11 000. Tour’s most aggressive rider (Antargaz): €20 000. Team classifi cation (NamedSport): €50 000. AN INVITATION TO ATTACK In a bid to encourage more aggressive racing, Tour organisers have introduced sprint bonus points on strategic climbs across all three weeks. n 2018, the Tour de France introduced a system of bonus points to make the opening week of racing more exciting, awarding three, two and one bonus seconds to the fi rst three riders at special sprints on the fi rst eight road stages. These bonuses were largely ignored by the yellow jersey contenders – with the notable exception of Geraint Thomas, who claimed them at La Roche-sur-Yon and Mûr-de-Bretagne. While the Welshman’s success wasn’t built around these handful of extra seconds, the candidates for his crown will probably be far more eager to race for them this year. That’s because the winner of each bonus-point sprint will now receive eight seconds, the runner-up fi ve seconds and the third-placed fi nisher two seconds. These sprints have also been placed in more strategically important I 90 | TO U R D E F R A NC E 2019 locations. As was the case last year, these special bonus sprints will not count towards the points classifi cation. “Last year, they were intended to encourage the race leadership to change hands during the fi rst week,” explains race director Thierry Gouvenou. “This time around, they could be a key element in the battle for the yellow jersey all the way to Paris. We’ve put them on the top of hills and cols, and on stages where there will be a fi ght for the general classifi cation. These are seconds that could really count, especially as there could be a multiplier eff ect. By attacking, for example, just before the summit of the Galibier, a good climber who is also a good descender could win in Valloire, where he would also take the 10-second bonus for the stage victory in addition to the time he had gained on the descent. His reward would be quite signifi cant.” ● 2019 BONUS POINTS STAGE 3 Côte de Mutigny (16km from fi nish) STAGE 6 Col des Chevrères (19km from fi nish) STAGE 8 Côte de la Jaillère (12.5km from fi nish) STAGE 9 Côte de Saint-Just (13km from fi nish) STAGE 12 Hourquette d’Ancizan (30.5km from fi nish) STAGE 15 Mur de Péguère (38.5km from fi nish) STAGE 18 Col du Galibier (19km from fi nish) STAGE 19 Col de l’Iseran (38km from fi nish)