7/9/2018 4:44 PM
Edited Date/Time: 7/9/2018 5:15 PM
xr70 wrote:
I am going for the overall win with Peter Sagan.
Ummm, Peter is a sprinter, he isn't a contender for the Grand Classification win. He's a contender for the green jersey though (the sprinter's points). His build isn't suitable for the mountains, he will be high up in the standings for the first week but as they enter the mountains, all the sprinters will drop through the standings massively.
Contenders for the yellow jersey (the overall lead) are riders like Chris Froome (Sky), Michael Landa (movistar), Richie Porte (BMC), Adam Yates (Scott), Romain Berdet (AG2R), Geraint Thomas (Sky), Rigo Uran (EF Education Cannondale), Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain), Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
Sagan's team, Bora, doesn't really have a legit GC contender on their team. Sagan's goals for the year are to win in the one day classics (and he picked up a big win this year at one of them), get some stage wins at the Tour and hopefully the green jersey classification, and then win the one day world road race championship for the fourth year in a row. He will never compete for the yellow overall at Tour in his career.
Quick Step is another team you see high up in the standings the first week, and will plummet as the race goes on. Teams like Quick Step, Direct Energie, Lotto Soudal, Katusha, Bora, and Dimension Data are built for the one day classics and much shorter stage races, like 3-7 day events. During Grand Tours such as the Tour de France, the Vuelte de Espana, and Giro d'Italia...these teams chase stage wins, not overalls.
There are multiple points standings to chase at a grand tour.
For Tour de France they're as follows:
Yellow: Grand Classification - the lowest overall time. The riders that chase this are all-around good cyclists. Mostly trimmed down like a climber, but still with decent strength and good time trial skills. Some like Froome are more like a dedicated climber while riders like Armstrong and Nibali seem to be more rounded in terms of build.
Green: Sprinter category - this is a points based competition with sprints in the middle of the stage and points for your finishing position in a stage. This is what sprinters like Peter Sagan, Andre Griepel, Mark Cavendish, and others chase. They're big, powerful riders that put out big power but don't have the endurance and light builds to navigate the mountains quickly.
Polka Dot: Climbers/King of the Mountains category - also points based, a mix of climbers checkpoints in the middle of a stages (at the top of climbs) and overall finishing position add points to this classification. The difficulty of the climbs changes the points you are rewarded for cresting them first, second, or third. Smaller/very skinny riders with great endurance chase these.
White: Best Young Rider - Like the GC/Yellow, but for riders under 26 years old.
Lastly, there's a team competition. The team with the lowest combined time wins this one, if leading this category you'll see that team with yellow numbers on their jerseys and other yellow trim (such as helmets or shoes). They take the best three riders from a team to combine for this time.
As far as I'm aware, Eddie Meryxck in 1969 is the only rider to win the GC, climbers, and sprint in the same year. It's just not feasible anymore. If you're in green, there's no way you're winning the others. The only time to hold green and yellow at the same time is the opening few stages. I guess a GC guy could snag polka dot, but that would mean a lot of time on the front of the field, which just isn't common with the way they race these days.