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Tour Xtra |
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The Polka Dot Jersey |
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Calculation 2012 The direction of the Tour de France rates all the climbs in the Tour de France and devides them in categories; five to be exact: from Hors Catégorie (toughest mountains) down to first, second, third and fourth category, for the ’easy’ climbs.
Circumstances regarded in the categorial division are length of the climb, altitude, average gradient, maximum gradients as well as the characteristics of the stage as a whole. For the points per rider per category, see the tables below.
A rider has to fulfil the Tour completely in order to be ranked in the final King of the Mountains classification.
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1 Richard Virenque (Fra)
2 Federico Bahamontès (Esp) — Lucien Van Impe (Bel)
4 Julio Jiménez (Esp)
5 Felicien Vervaecke (Bel) — Gino Bartali (Ita) — Fausto Coppi (Ita) — Charly Gaul (Lux) — Imerio Massignan (Ita) — Eddy Merckx (Bel) — Luis Herrera (Col) — Claudio Chiappucci (Ita) — Laurent Jalabert (Fra) — Michael Rasmussen (Den) |
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7
6 6
3
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 |
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1994-1995-1996-1997-1999-2003-2004
1954-1958-1959-1962-1963-1964 1971-1972-1975-1977-1981-1983
1965-1966-1967
1935-1937 1938-1948 1949-1952 1955-1956 1960-1961 1969-1970 1985-1987 1991-1992 2001-2002 2005-2006 |
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HC
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
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Points
- 20 - 18 - 16 - 14 - 12 - 10 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 |
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Points
- 15 - 13 - 11 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 |
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Points
- 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 |
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History In 1905 already, the first King of the Mountains was Frenchman René Pottier, who reached the top of the Ballon d’Alsace first.
The King of the Mountains Classification was calculated for the first time in 1933 (with Spaniard Vicente Trueba winning), but one year later the classification was officially introduced by Henri Desgrange. Trueba was the first to reach the tops of the Aspin, Aubisque, Ballon d’Alsace, Galibier, Peyresourde, Braues, Vars and Tourmalet.
Trueba’s decents were so badly performed, that he was caught back in the descents time after time. This made Desgrange decide that in 1934, the rider to reach a mountain top first, got a time bonus – which would be the gap between him and the second rider (with a maximum of two minutes). In 1934, the first official winner became René Vietto from France. Nowadays, these time bonuses on mountain tops don’t exist anymore.
The Polka Dot Jersey itself was introduced in 1975. It’s colors find their origin in the first sponsor of the jersey, chocolate factory Poulain, who used to produce chocolate bars with a polka dot wrap around it. The first rider to wear this jersey was Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk; the first one to bring it to Paris was Lucien Van Impe from Belgium, his third King of the Mountains title then already, by the way.
Winners 1933-2011 For a full list of all Kings of the Mountains, click here. |
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Points
- 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 |
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1st
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
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2nd
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
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3rd
1 2 3 4 |
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4th
1 2 3 |
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Points
- 3 - 2 - 1 |
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Most Polka Dot Jersey wins per rider (includes period 1933-1975, when no Polka Dot Jersey was awarded yet) |
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The following points scales were used in the years 2004-2010. In those years, on a stage’s last mountain being HC, first or second category, the points for the mountain classification were doubled on that mountain top. Before 2004, more riders could score points on a col. |
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HC
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
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Points
- 20 - 16 - 12 - 8 - 4 - 2 |
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Points
- 10 - 8 - 6 - 4 - 2 - 1 |
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Points
- 5 - 3 - 2 - 1 |
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Points
- 2 - 1 |
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1st
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
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2nd
1 2 3 4 |
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3rd
1 2 |
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4th
1 |
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Points
- 1 |
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The Tour directors decide in which stages the points on the final mountain top are doubled. |