Tour de France Jerseys Explained

Yellow Jersey/Maillot Jaune

One of the most recognisable and iconic pieces of sporting attire, the yellow jersey transcends the relatively niche world of pro cycling as a symbol of excellence.

It’s worn by the leader in the general classification (GC) – a ranking of riders’ aggregated time after each stage – and was introduced back in 1919. It is generally accepted that yellow was chosen not only so that the lead rider would stand out, but to mirror the yellow pages of the newspaper L’Auto (a predecessor to L’Equipe), who founded and organised the race.

The Tour de France usually begins with a time trial or a flat stage, which offers up the opportunity for a rider who has little chance of winning the race overall – as they are not adept over more mountainous terrain – to wear yellow for one or more subsequent days. This is a goal in itself for some riders.  

To wear the esteemed jersey is not just an honour but also a responsibility for the team holding it. They will be expected to ride on the front of the peloton and assert a certain amount of control over the race, at least until other teams with objectives for the day take over.  

The extra work that is therefore required of a team holding the yellow jersey, along with time consuming podium and media obligations that the wearer is obligated to fulfil after each stage, mean that teams targeting an overall win are often minded not to “be in yellow” too early so as not to overburden their riders and especially their leader.  

The overall winner of the Tour de France is the leading rider in the general classification after the final stage and dons the yellow jersey in the final podium presentation. However, since 1975, the final stage has been for the sprinters along the Champs-Élysées in Paris (with one exception of the famous time trial in 1989 when Greg LeMond won the Tour by 8secs), and traditionally the yellow jersey is not attacked, making the stage largely ceremonial for overall contenders.

Recent winners of the Tour de France:

Green Jersey/Maillot Vert

50 years after the first ever Tour de France, the green jersey was introduced in 1953 – largely to maintain the interest of riders who could not win the Tour overall – for the leader in the points classification. Green was chosen to reflect the colours of the jersey sponsor, La Belle Jardinière, a lawnmower manufacturer. 

Points are awarded according to finishing positions on each stage as well as at an intermediate sprint point somewhere along the day’s route. Stages are classified by the organisers according to their profile and type – flat, hilly, mountain, or time trial – with more points being awarded for finishing positions on flat stages, favouring the faster men. The green jersey or points classification is therefore often referred to as the sprinter’s jersey, classification, or competition. 

The winner of the green jersey is usually someone who can deliver consistently high finishes on flat stages but can also get over some more hillier terrain to mop up intermediate sprint points. It was dominated for a number of years by Slovakian Peter Sagan, who used to be uniquely adept at those skills. However, nowadays the notion of a “pure sprinter” is rarer with many now able to climb to a decent standard, making the battle for the green jersey potentially a lot more competitive.

Recent winners of the green jersey:

Polka Dot Jersey/Maillot à Pois

Also known as the “King of the Mountains”, the leader of the mountains classification wears a white jersey with red polka dots which was the wrapper design of Chocolat Poulain chocolate bars, the original sponsors of the competition in 1975. Although relatively recent in its introduction, the polka dot jersey has also become highly recognisable to even non-cycling fans.

Each mountain climbed during the race is given a category classification which relates to its difficulty, ranging from fourth-category, for the easiest, through third-, second-, first-, and finally hors catégorie (meaning “outside category”) which is assigned to the most difficult mountains. 

As with the green jersey, points are awarded as riders cross the summit of these mountains – including if the summit happens to be the finish line of a stage – with the highest number of points awarded for the most difficult climbs. The current point distribution is as follows:

The polka dot jersey carries a significant amount of prestige in itself and is targeted by some riders, especially French ones.

Sometimes, especially if a number of stages have summit finishes, a GC contender will win the mountains classification. But more often than not, a rider out of overall contention will collect points from being in breakaways on hilly and mountainous stages, pick up the polka dot jersey, and then try to defend it for the remainder of the race. 

Recent winners of the polka dot jersey:

White Jersey/Maillot Blanc

Since 1975, a white jersey has been worn by the leader of the young rider classification which is based on positions in the general classification. Qualification as a “young rider” has changed over the years but since 2000 it has included any rider under 26 years of age within the year of the Tour – so if you turn 26 before 1st Jan the following year you do not qualify.

Around 25-35 riders tend to qualify which is about 15% of the total field. (NB the total number of riders in the peloton has decreased from 198 to 176 since 2018 as teams are restricted to eight riders rather than nine. However, this increased to 184 in 2021 with the addition of a 23rd team instead of the usual 22.)

Two recent winners of the white jersey – Egan Bernal and Tadej Pogačar – also won the Tour overall. One could argue this made the young riders classification a bit of an outdated competition. It does seem that there are more and more riders that qualify for the white jersey who are also serious contenders for the overall win. Time will tell if Bernal and Pogačar are outliers or whether this trend is here to stay.

As mentioned, at times the same rider can be leading more than one classification. In these cases, the rider in question wears the jersey with the higher status – with yellow at the top, followed by green, polka dot, and finally white – and the rider second in the classification wears the lower status jersey instead of the leader. 

Rider classification jerseys are not unique to the Tour de France – all multi-day stage races have their own coloured jerseys and competitions, though the rules may differ slightly in all competitions bar the general classification. 

Though not unique to the Tour de France, there are other jerseys to look out for which help us identify riders more easily:

National Jerseys

Each country holds national road and time trial championship races every year (usually just before the Tour de France). The winners of each have the honour of wearing a team jersey which incorporates the design of that rider’s national colours in the same type of race for the following year. So, for example, the Italian time trial champion can wear the Italian colours in every time trial for a year, and the British road race champion can do the same in every road race. Some teams allow national colours to dominate their own jersey design more than others – Astana and UAE for example only incorporate a band of colour across the chest, while most other teams go for a full redesign.

Previous national or world champions also usually have their nation’s colours at the bottom of their jersey sleeve which is a useful way to identify riders, assuming you know who was a previous national champion.

Continental/World Championship Jerseys

Similarly, there are also continental championships held every year, and the winners of each will wear a distinctive jersey for the next 12 months.

Whether it’s on the track, cyclocross, mountain bike, bmx, or road racing – the World Championship rainbow jersey is one of the most prestigious and recognisable in cycling. The rainbow stripes take precedence over any European or national jersey that a rider may also hold, but is given up should a rider be in possession of a Tour jersey.

Recent men’s world time trial and road race champions: