Tour de France: 2015 green jersey points favor climbers
Tour course director Thierry Gouvenou explained the rationale for the changes to the flat stages.
"We have made some changes to the green jersey competition next year," Govenou said. "When we are almost certain that the stage will end in a sprint, we will add a little bonus to first place."
"Previously we've had 45, 35 and 30 points for the top three positions respectively. Now we will award 50, 30 and 20 points. The person who wins the stage will have a bigger advantage over the others, and it's something which brings the pure sprinters back into the frame for the green jersey."
More points for first, but the same points for the top 2 and fewer points for the top 3 and beyond for the sprint stages.
From 2013 results, Sagan with his domination in the rankings would still have won. But 2nd would now be Coquard, a GC rider. All of the sprinters would have lost points relative to what they actually scored. So in conjunction with the number of finishing climbs in 2015, expect a GC rider to have a greater chance at the points jersey as well.
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