Polka dot jersey

The polka dot jersey ( _fr. maillot à pois rouges) is the jersey awarded for the best climber during the mountain stages of the Tour de France cycle race. The "King of the Mountains" wears a white jersey with red dots.

History

In 1933, the king of the mountain classification was first calculated. The winner was Vicente Trueba, who reached the tops of most mountains first. However, Trueba was a very bad descender, so he never gained anything from reaching the tops first. The Tour de France director, Henri Desgrange, decided that cyclists should receive a bonus for reaching the tops first. From 1934 on, the gap between the first and the second cyclist to reach the top was given as a time bonus to the one reaching the top first. These time bonuses were later removed, but the King of the Mountain recognition remained. [http://www.cvccbike.com/tour/eddy/polkadot.htm] Although the best climber was first recognised in 1933, the distinctive jersey was not introduced until 1975. The colours were decided by the then sponsor, "Poulain Chocolate" or Chocolat Poulain, to match a popular product; some say the colours were inspired by a jersey that the former organiser, Félix Lévitan saw while at the Vélodrome d'Hiver track in Paris in his youth. Currently the jersey is sponsored by Champion supermarkets, which has sponsored the jersey since 1993. The Tour's jersey colours have also been adopted by other cycling stage races; for example, the Tour of Britain also has a polka dot jersey.

Current situation

At the top of each climb in the Tour, there are points for the riders who are first over the top. The climbs are divided into categories from 1 (most difficult) to 4 (least difficult) based on their difficulty, measured as a function of their steepness and length. A few of the very hardest climbs were originally given different individual points scales, and were thus listed as "uncategorised" ("Hors catégorie", a term that has since passed into the French language to refer to any exceptional phenomenon); however, since the 1980s in fact the "hors catégorie" climbs have been given a single points scale and effectively became, despite the name, just a top category above category 1. In 2004, the scoring system was changed such that the first rider over a fourth category climb was awarded 3 points while the first to complete a "hors catégorie" climb would win 20 points. Further points over a fourth category climb are only for the top three places while on a "hors catégorie" climb the top ten riders are rewarded. Since 2004, points scored on the final climb of the day have been doubled where that climb was at least a second category climb. [cite web|url=http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/docs/reglement_2006_us.pdf|title=Regulations of the race|publisher=ASA/letour.fr]

Distribution of points

The points that are gained by climbing the mountains are distributed according to the following classification:

* Hors Catégorie climbs: 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the 1st until the 10th rider to climb the mountain
* First category climbs: 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the 1st until the 8th rider to climb the mountain
* Second category climbs: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the 1st until the 6th rider to climb the mountain
* Third category climbs and hills : 4, 3, 2 and 1 point, respectively for the 1st until the 4th rider to climb the hill
* Fourth category climbs (hills): 3, 2, and 1 point, respectively for the 1st until the 3rd rider to climb the hill.

The points of the last climb in the stage are doubled, but only for the HC, 1st and 2nd category.

If two riders have an equal number of points, the rider with the most first places on the "hors catégorie" cols, is declared winner. If the riders arrived first an equal number of times, the first places on the 1st category cols are compared. Should the two riders again have an equal number of first arrivals in this category, the organization looks at mutual results in the 2nd , 3rd and 4th category, until a winner is found. If the number of first arrivals in all categories is equal for both riders, the rider with the highest position in the overall list of rankings receives the mountain jersey.

Kings of the Mountains

Repeat winners

Notes