Rules
The Tour de France, and other bicycle stage races, are decided by totalling the time each rider takes on the daily stages. Time can be added or subtracted from this total time as bonuses or penalties for winning individual stages or being first to the top of a climb or for infractions of the rules. The rider with the lowest overall time at the end of each stage receives a ceremonial yellow bicycling jersey and the right to start the next stage, usually the next day, of the Tour in the yellow jersey.
The rider to receive the yellow jersey after the last stage in Paris, is the overall (or ultimate) winner of the Tour.
Similar leader's jerseys exist in other cycling races, but are not always yellow (the color being chosen by the individual race organizers). The Tour of California uses gold, the Giro d'Italia uses pink and the Tour Down Under uses an ochre-coloured jersey, as ochre is a colour strongly associated with Australia, particularly its desert regions. Until 2009 the Vuelta a España used gold; since 2010 the leader's jersey is red.
Read more about this topic: General Classification In The Tour De France
Famous quotes containing the word rules:
“This was Pharaoh, direct descendent of our deity Amon, god of the sun, who rules the heavens as Pharaoh rules the earth. Again, he brought treasure, gold, and precious jewels taken from our enemies. For to Pharaoh riches were power and power was to be desired. And also again he brought many captives. For is it not by slaves that one becomes even richer and then has even more power?”
—William Faulkner (1897–1962)
“Fergus rules the brazen cars,
And rules the shadows of the wood,
And the white breast of the dim sea
And all dishevelled wandering stars.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Here was a place where nothing was crystallized. There were no traditions, no customs, no college songs .... There were no rules and regulations. All would have to be thought of, planned, built up, created—what a magnificent opportunity!”
—Mabel Smith Douglass (1877–1933)