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What are the other classifications?
And what do I call guys who aren’t GC riders?
What is GC?
GC stands for ‘general classification’, and it is the rider who gets from the start of the first stage to the end of the last stage in the least amount of cumulative time. The GC winner is the winner of the Tour, and he wears a yellow jersey.
Note that this person does not need to win every stage (or any stage). For example, Rider A wins Stage 1 and gets a 2-minute advantage over Rider B, and then Rider B wins Stage 2 with a 5-minute advantage over Rider A. Although they have both won a stage, Rider B’s overall time is three minutes faster than Rider A.
You will see time gaps ranging from people being seconds apart to people being minutes or even hours behind. Once the GC contest is underway, having a one, two, or even three minute advantage is uncomfortable. Once you start to stretch beyond that, it gets much harder for a rival to overtake you for first place.
Expect the standings to shift a lot in the first week and a half. Know that in this time, it is likely that the eventual winner of the race will not be in first place, as he is going to make up the most time on the peloton (the largest group of riders on the road) on mountain stages.
There is more than one race going on during the Tour. Aside from the GC and each day’s stage podium, there are three jersey classifications to look out for:
- King of the Mountains (KOM) –– look for a polka dot jersey: The race organizers will set up checkpoints for the riders to get KOM points. If you reach that checkpoint first you get, e.g. 10 points, the second person gets 6 points, the third 2. These can appear anywhere uphill.
- Sprint –– look for a green jersey: The race organizers set up checkpoints for riders to get sprint points, which work the same way as KOM points. These appear anywhere on flatter sections. There will also be major sprint points at the stage finish line on flat stages.
- Youth –– look for a white jersey: The rider under 25 who has the fastest time from the start of the first stage to the end of the last stage.
The winner of any of these jerseys can also be the GC winner. For example, if you’re under 25 and have the best overall time for the race, you would be both the GC leader and the youth jersey winner.
What do I call guys who aren’t GC riders?
Riders whose aim is to win a stage rather than contend for the tour are called stage hunters. These riders are often rouleurs, who can handle hilly and even mountainous terrain on their own.
Those trying to win sprints are sprinters and those best suited to hilly stages are puncheurs. Those best suited to the mountains are climbers.
If you are on a team with a GC rider and expected to be supporting them, you are a domestique. Domestiques are likely to be rouleurs or climbers. Super domestiques are riders who are extremely good and normally would ride for themselves to win, but have a phenom teammate who they curb their own ambitions for.
Breakaway specialists are riders who excel at suffering in a small group –– the breakaway –– which goes off the front to try and beat the peloton to the line. Breakaways can happen on any stage and breakaway riders can be of any type. But GC riders are usually not allowed to get an advantage on rivals, and typically don’t even try to get in a breakaway.