Tour de France points system revealed: A green gesture to Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert?

As most fans know, riders can earn points for the green jersey at the finish of every stage. To regulate this, the Tour organization classifies stages into six categories based on difficulty. Time trials are given a separate classification.

Categories 1 and 2 are the easiest on paper, where the stage winner can earn a whopping 50 points toward the green jersey. Category 3 includes hilly stages or mountain stages with only an uphill finish, such as the one on Mont Ventoux. These offer 30 points for the day’s winner.

Categories 4 and 5 are considered tough mountain stages with significant elevation gain, where 20 points are awarded to the winner. Individual time trials, classified as Category 6, fall into this same points range.

In total, eleven stages have been designated as Category 1 or 2. These include the opening stage with both start and finish in Lille, the second stage finishing in Boulogne-sur-Mer (with a final kilometer at over 5 percent gradient), stage four ending in Rouen (featuring five categorized climbs in the final stretch), and even stage six finishing on the Mur-de-Bretagne, a 2-kilometer climb at 6.9 percent.

These are generally the kinds of stages where riders like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert have an advantage over the likes of Jonathan Milan, Tim Merlier, and Jasper Philipsen. Stage 8 to Laval, stage 10 in Toulouse, stage 15 toward Carcassonne, and the final stage with multiple climbs of Montmartre also offer punchers the chance to grab 50 points.

Add to that the fact that many of the intermediate sprints, each offering a maximum of 20 points, are placed in locations favorable to stronger climbing sprinters or punchers, and it’s quite possible that the green jersey in 2025 won’t go to a pure sprinter.

In the most recent edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Mathieu van der Poel also made a bid for the green jersey. The Dutchman finished with the same number of points as overall winner Tadej Pogacar, but still saw the green go to the Slovenian.