Tour de France organisers overhaul points system — possibly to stop a dominant Pogacar?

A.S.O., organisers of the Tour de France among other races, have adjusted the points system at the Tour de France. Several outlets reported this on Friday. In doing so, the organisers appear to have made a change that could make it considerably harder for Tadej Pogacar to take the green jersey home this summer.

First, the change itself. According to Sporza and others, the winner of a stage classified as "flat" — and therefore one that usually goes to a sprinter — will earn 70 points in the battle for the green jersey this summer. The podium places have also been rewarded more generously in points terms, with second and third place now earning 50 and 40 points respectively.

For comparison: the points distribution was notably different last year. The winner of a flat stage received 50 points, second place got 30, and third got 20. That's a significant difference compared to the upcoming Tour, and it could well have something to do with the world champion's dominance.

Pogacar finished second in last year's points classification, with 294 points. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) won that competition with 372 points, but the world champion still finished ahead of sprinters such as Biniam Girmay, Tim Merlier and Kaden Groves.

Sporza examined what effect the revised points system would have had on last year's Tour. Milan would have gained 80 additional points, while Pogacar could only have counted on 19 extra points. As a result, the gap between the two men wouldn't have been 78 points, but 139 — almost double.

It's also worth noting that Pogacar has come close before. He finished fourth in the points classification at the 2024 and 2023 Tours, and third at the 2022 Tour de France.