Polka Dot Jersey Contenders

61 thoughts on “Polka Dot Jersey Contenders”

1. I think I’d put Oscar Onley above many of those mentioned.

   • A good pick too, climbing well and punchy. For him the challenge is the really long HC climbs in the Tour, several are an hour long and he’s so far been excellent in 10-20 minute climbs; but so has Lenny Martinez and so on.

     • With Picnic’s desperate need of UCI points they are probably better served by Onley targeting tenth place on GC and a handful of stage placings rather than a risky and unpredictable bid for the mountains jersey. It might not be very romantic though it could be a pragmatic route to WT survival.

       • Very few riders seem to target the mountain jersey: Astana did very well by going for the mountain jersey in the Giro, and it was probably an easier way to get UCI points than trying to top-10 on GC.

         • As illustrated by Carapaz last year but many other riders, it’s often a third week decision by a rider who has seen their GC ambitions collapse and so gets space to go in the breakaways for the second set of mountains (eg the Alps this year after the Pyrenees) rather than a constructed effort made in across mountain ranges and topped up elsewhere.

         • I think the route design of this year’s Giro – ie lots of mid-stage mountains, and a decent number of cat 1 & 2 climbs earlyish in the race – meant that targetting the mountains jersey from the start was a realistic goal for someone who’d normally be a breakaway rider / stage hunter.

           But this year’s TdF, with 5 HC mountain top finishes, and 5 HC climbs across stages 18 & 19 alone (including the double points on Loze), tilts things much more in favour of the GC riders.

2. Has it ever been timing based or am I thinking of another race?

   • There’s been talk online of having timed segments instead of a finish line for the climb. Logistically it can be done with timing chips and mats. But it’d be a hard contest to see on TV, is the fastest rider the first to the top, or the one who starts from further back, possibly in the vehicle convoy even?

     • Ha that is a good point. Could also be useful for rider safety though as well. A rider going 60 kph and then suddenly 0 kph could trigger an alert. I realize that’s not exactly the topic of this post tho!

   • The beauty of a bike race is that, stripped to its essentials, it is inherently very simple: draw a line on the road, and the first person across it is the winner.

     A points competition extends that concept such that there are multiple lines across multiple roads, and the winner is the person who has done best on aggregate. But it is still an inherently simple concept to follow: watch the finish line and you know who wins.

     If you had a timed competition, you throw away that simplicity. The heroic leader in the early break could end up losing the competition because, unseen behind, a GC leader has set his domestiques in play to mow down the early break. It would all be an unclear which rider in a group was truly the fastest, and the “action” that wins the race might be happening minutes behind the leader. Ultimately all clarity would be gone, the “winner” of each climb would only become known once every rider had crossed the summit and the results been computed. (You’d even have the farcical situation that to be completely accurate, you couldn’t name the winner of the GPM on a summit finish until the autobus had crossed the line, just in case by some freak someone in that group had ridden flat out to make a time cut).

     The whole thing would be deeply unsatisfactory to watch as a spectator. Any sport where – allowing for any infringements – the result isn’t clear for hours afterwards until a bunch of backroom boffins have computed and analysed results is deeply unsatisfactory as a spectacle.

     Ultimately, if you want a W/kg contest, you might as well watch two people going head to head on turbo trainers.

3. In “The Great Bike Race”, Geoffrey Nicholson’s book on the 1976 Tour, he describes the new mountains jersey as “a white jersey with red blobs” and comments “it is a bit of an embarassment, and will probably be changed”

   • I wonder why it stuck? It was picked by the two track riders because it was so visible, people remembered them because of their jerseys. By the early 1980s Bernard Vallet won the jersey and said he loved it because he felt so recognisable, the people could see the jersey and him from afar.

   • Fifty years on and we are in a place where any embarrassment over the jersey – whether over the pattern or dots on shorts, socks and, heaven help us, the bike – is essentially affectionate as for a favourite, if slightly eccentric and dotty, uncle.

     Perhaps its symbolism, its embodiment of the mythology and nostalgia often so important to cycling fandom, have become more important than the competition itself or, as INRNG points out, the lack of it and the paradox where so many people these days actively want it to be won by a rider who is palpably not the ‘best climber’ in the race.

4. Loved the Jersey as in the Alaphilippe photo. Sporadic dots. Don’t like it now all the dots are in a grid pattern

   • This blog’s now old supporter jersey and the mountains jersey today share the same creator in Fergus Niland who works for Santini so can’t be too harsh 😉

     It’s the new sponsor, Leclerc and their branding that matches this. I’m in two minds, the older more random patten did look like measles, especially when combined with matching shorts.

     The dots have changed over time. As a student of all things 1989 that year the red dots a mountains motif inside them, it was original but looked odd at the same time. Either way it remains distinctive, the design changes but is instantly recognisable.

     • The previous pattern, I think, had diagonal dots rather than vertical/horizontal dots. So it still have a recognizeable pattern to my eyes; others may disagree. They have also played around with the size of the dots and how far apart they are placed. I agree with some others here that I preferred the earlier pattern.

   • I can’t believe that Shimano haven’t teamed up with Yayoi Kusama and sponsored it yet….

     • That would sound very promising for a visual change.

5. There are so many mountain stages that finish with an HC climb that I think it is going to be very difficult to stop Pogi winning it this year. This is especially true if the Col de la Loze stage is won from the GC-group rather than the break. If a breakaway rider wins the Col de la Loze stage, then they should, I think, end up winning the Polka-dot jersey.

   • Likewise, I think the Loze is the central case here. There’s room for other scenarios given the amount of HC climbs but it requires a good scorer, someone who can master multiple HC climbs.

   • My fear is that Visma, chasing Pogi, will have to track down the breakaway in the later stages, thereby giving Pogi the opportunity to take stages that he doesn’t need and wouldn’t otherwise be chasing.

6. Hopefully there’ll be a decent contest.

   All leader’s jersey look dreadful with shorts of the same colour, but none more so than the polka dots.

   Black shorts with a leader’s jersey. Always.

   • I don’t know. I think I disagree. I don’t like the yellow pants or the green pants in the tour, but the polka dots are fun–they look like clowns. I like that this little honour looks so silly, especially when so much of racing is so serious.

     • I think if you’re in the Tour of [mediocre region] then no team or rider will go there but at the Tour de France it’s “if you’ve got it, flaunt it”.

       To the point that sometimes the riders don’t have much choice either as their team and suppliers want publicity turned up to the max. As you can see from the pictures above, many teams will show up to the race with trucks stashed with boxes of polka dot shorts, helmets etc just in case.

       • Was there ever thought given to having a jersey for the lanterne rouge? That would be something the sponsors would love.

         I vaguely recall reading about such a plan, perhaps even in these pages…

         • The Giro tried that with the maglia nera. It became a game of guessing where the cutoff was, getting ahead then waiting around, then cutting it as fine as possible (there was a cash prize involved). Probably harder back then without race radios. They decided that that was a bit unsporting and canceled it.

           The last winner of the black jersey was a certain Giovanni Pinarello. Supposedly his team (Bianchi?) got fed up with his performances, broke his contract, and with the severance pay Pinarello started his own framebuilding shop.

         • As another response states. There was a black jersey worn by the rider placed last in the Giro. Riders became very competitive about winning this jersey, and the shenanigans became ridiculous. Riders were deliberately standing at the finish line waiting to cross the line at the last moment. It didn’t seem to be a genuine race anymore, so the jersey and prize were dropped.

         • Black shirts were unpopular generally in war-ruined Italy. Certain unrepentant types may have felt slighted at such obvious mockery, or so it’s been suggested by better qualified historians than me

       • That’s a problem wirh the Tour de France: many things get overdone just for publicity and visibility.

   • Agreed – black shorts with a leaders jersey. End of story.

     • Shorts in the team´s colour, even when it isn´t black.

       But anyway, I got curious and wondered who was the first rider to put on polka dot bib shirts?

       I did a quick search for images of KOM winners and it appears that Michael Rasmussen wore them in 2005 while Virenque and Jalabert did not. Neither did any of the riders who led the competition before Rasmussen during the 2005 Tour.

       • If asked I’d go for him too, matching frame as well at times.

         • It seems it was a gradual move.

           First only the polka dot jersey but Rabobank shorts, helmet and gloves when he wins the 9th stage. Then polka dot jersey, shorts and helmet but Rabobank gloves and a black Colnago – and finally on the 21st stage the whole shebang including the bike.

7. I normally think about what the Jayco alula point of view.
   Eddie Dunbar should go for this jersey. There is nothing in his recent form to suggest a top 10 is possible. So unless Ben O’Conner is going well in GC and requires backup the jersey would be a good goal for Dunbar.

   • Even O’Connor too if the GC bid doesn’t work out. He didn’t look sizzling in Suisse but had come back from altitude and the longer climbs of the Tour will suit him more but a GC bid in a race with Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel is a tough ask.

     Finishing in the top-10 overall is a very respectable result and can mean a lot of coverage along the way which works out for teams and their sponsors. But last year the TV motos were busy covering the top three to the point that the likes of Landa, Carlos Rodriguez did not feature much on the coverage; the mountains competition is a way to stand out but risky. Teams will have to see where things stand on the second rest day.

     • A genuine question: how much coverage does riding into the top-10 really get? I always thought it got very little, and there was far more coverage of stage wins and the hunt for a minor jersey. And even of the breakaways.

       I know that in the 1980s and earlier, nobody much cared about positions off the podium (the exception were under-23 riders who were showing their teams they could later ride for a podium). I don’t know when teams and riders started to care about top-10. I guess it must have been about the time the world rankings were introduced.

       • It depends on the way the race goes and it’s not exclusive to the top-10 but being in the front group on the mountain stages means a lot of airtime for the jersey, the logos. How much teams value this depends on them and their sponsors, their goals, the audience demographics etc. Cofidis for example rate it highly in terms of return on what they’re spending; I can imagine a team funded by a hobbyist billionaire can see things differently and values the thrill of a win more.

8. They should have two jerseys … one with small dots for jockey class and one with large dots for the more gravity challenged (as in 70 kg plus).

   • The heavy one has green dots on a green background 😉

     • Perhaps, but I doubt that any of those riders could keep up with Van Aert or Indurain in the mountains (can’t recall if WvA collected a green).

       • Yes, 2022, over Philipsen by a wide margin. Pogacar was third.

     • Well played, inrng, well played 🙂 This is the kind of wit I come here for!

       • +1

9. It’s interesting that INRNG remarks that the jersey has only been won four times this century by the eventual tour winner without pausing to address the fact that these instances have all occurred within the last 10 TdFs and that three of them have occurred in the last five. While this may not yet amount to a trend, it would be worth looking at what factors have contributed to the overall champions also taking the mountains jersey in recent years. Is it the reduction in TT KMs or some other change in course design? The exertion of control upon the peloton by the leading teams? A change in style from the top racers leading to more aggressive racing? To me, it seems an intriguing development to ponder.

   • INRNG mentions that how the points are weighted changed, then changed back after the GC was taking polka dots.

     • Yes, I think teams riding down the breakaway has contributed. When UAE or Jumbo have ridden to victory at the Tour they’ve done it with most of the team being used in the mountain stages to set a pace. It’s annoyed rival teams who want some crumbs from the table but instead the dominant team has gripped the race… but UAE did this last year too and Carapaz still won.

   • Up until about 15-20 years ago, the Tour was very rarely won by the best climber. This changed when the number of time-trial km were sharply reduced, and the number of mountain top finishes (MTF) increased. To give a rough idea, in 1980 there were two MTF and 240 km of time-trials. The Tour was usually won by a brilliant time-trialist who could climb competently (limiting their time-loses in the mountains). The best climbers, especially if they were poor at time-trials, concentrated on winning the mountain jersey.

     The change in parcours in recent years means that the Tour is normally won by the best climber. To give an idea, in 2022 there were six MTF and 54 km of time trials (rather different from 1980). Early breakaways are “a thing” nowadays which they were not in the past; they rarely happened in the 1980s or before (there was no TV coverage then). As a consequence, the top climbers now concentrate on the GC battle, and the mountain jersey is usually won by a decent climber who gets into plenty of breakaways.

     • Yeah, been thinking about the change in the course over the years. Remco wins GC on an eighties course?

       • I think Remco would have a good chance. However, Pogi is actually reasonable at TT, especially in the third week: both Pogi and Jonas are better at fatigue resistence (in my opinion). So if Pogi lost 2-3 minutes in the time-trials he may well be able to get the time back elsewhere. Pogi would, for sure, attack on the hilly stages to win time. And on the mountain stages he would attack from very far out. But I agree, it would make it very interesting for Remco and alter the odds in his favour.

         Remco is most similar to Hinault, in my opinion. The badger, although only 62kg, was not a great climber. But he was winning 10 minutes or more in the time-trials on the pure climbers, so didn’t need to be a great climber.

         Interestingly, in the Merckx era there were fewer time-trial km than before/after and more MTF (in 1972: 4 MTF, 81km TT). The courses then were quite close to the modern era. It makes his wins more impressive, since he did not win just because he dominated the time-trials.

       • Or the 2012 course which Wiggins won.

10. Small nitpick but Van Eetvelt has said he’s aiming for stages, not GC. I’d also mention Armirail as the potential Decathlon contender over Berthet, even if it’s a stretch to see him take it with the level of KOM contender climbing, compared to basically uncontested one-week KOMs; Gall has also said he’ll go for stages and KOM if GC doesn’t work out, so he’s one of the few to mention KOM explicitly so far.

11. Seems that the riders who are targeting the KoM but ultimately lose out due to the GC guys still reap some of the benefits. I don’t have the stats, but with the yellow taking priority for the GC lead, the polka dots will most likely spend a lot of time on the shoulders of ‘moral leader’ of the competition.

    It would be nice to exclude GC riders from the KoM contest, but there is no practical way to do this. But the above situation – if it does truly exist! – seems to provide a sort of compromise. Photos wearing the jersey, attention on the road, a sign that you are in the fight for the competition… but no UCI points, no prize money, no name in the record books.

    I wonder if there is a case for the return of a combination jersey? A version of it which rewards riders who animate the race but perhaps can’t win it. Though Sagan or WvA are the prototype riders, I suppose. And they never lacked reward!

    • Not much point in having a combination classification. In the last iteration at the Vuelta (2002-2018) 13 times the GC winner collected the jersey. And IIRC the other 4 went to the 2nd in GC.

      • Oh, wow. Thanks. I’ll file that under “Things from recent history I’ve forgotten all about”.

        Yes, that win rate is instructive. I suppose you could tweak the points awards to weight the contest in one direction or another but in this era of neo-Cannibals the end result is likely to be similar whatever you do.

12. Have I got my wrong glasses on or did INRNG omit the most obvious non-alien KoM contender: Felix Gall? His win rate is not that high but he’s racked up a bunch of excellent placings in the Dauphiné and the Tour of the Alps evidence of form. He’s already proven that come the Tdf’s third week he climbs at an alien-worthy level, so by virtue of the scenario laid out in the article I would consider him a serious contender.

    • Happy to be wrong and he is a good climber of course but he’s not got much of a sprint or that much finesse to outfox other riders. Which now means he’ll win of course

      • Good points. But he’s such a strong climber he might brute force his way to throne of the mountain king.

13. anyone in Astana a decent shot?. They seem to be good at targeting achievable UCI points this year

    • Clément Champoussin was the pick above after a solid Tour de Suisse but Tejada is very strong but a bit of a diesel, Simone Velasco is punchy but might be limited in the high mountains, Higuita even if he can find the form of old.

14. I’m guessing that someone without a contract for next year will make the early running in the KOM competition.

15. For anyone who might be interested, these are the occasions since the war that the mountain classification was won by the winner of the yellow jersey:

    1948: Bartali (he did it in 1938 as well)
    1949: Coppi
    1952: Coppi
    1959: Bahamontes
    1969: Merckx
    1970: Merckx
    2008: Sastre (the original winner was later disq.)
    2015: Froome
    2020: Pogačar
    2021: Pogačar
    2022: Vingegaard

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