Cycling: While yellow is the most coveted color in the Tour de France, there are many riders who aim for a different color. One of them is green. The green jersey is also often referred to as a sprinter jersey. In Germany, the jersey of the driver with the best points is immediately linked to Erik Zabel. Also this year there are two Germans among the most promising candidates.
The green jersey does not automatically go to the fastest rider
Up until 2011, the Maillot Vert was almost automatically given to the driver who was able to collect the most points at the finish line. This has changed fundamentally, because the scoring in the intermediate sprints has been drastically increased, so that collecting points in the final sprint is no longer sufficient. Although there was another adjustment in 2015, it is still clear that the green jersey can only be won if you also take part in the numerous intermediate sprints. The record winner to this day is Erik Zabel, who won the Maillot Vert six times in a row from 1996 to 2001. In the past four years, Slovakia's Peter Sagan has benefited from the rule change. Because of the intermediate sprints and his breakaway attempts on hilly or even mountainous stages, he was always several bike lengths ahead of the pure sprinters. The world champion is also the top favorite this year, but the two Germans André Greipel and Marcel Kittel could stop the winning streak this year.
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Peter Sagan (Team Tinkoff)
Current world champion Peter Sagan is on course to catch up with Erik Zabel in two years. The Slovakian has won the green jersey four times in a row, from 2012 to 2015. His inimitable way of riding a bike wows the crowds. Even if he rarely has the edge in a flat sprint against the fastest sprinters in the world, he impresses with his consistency. Peter Sagan is always to be reckoned with in a mass sprint. If he takes part in every mass and intermediate sprint again this year, he will again be hard to beat. In particular, his breakaway actions on hilly or even mountainous stages repeatedly ensured a large lead. However, should Alberto Contador enlist the help of Peter Sagan more often and thus push the goal of the green jersey into the background, the door for his challengers is a crack open. This year the world champion was able to claim six victories, including the classic Gent-Wevelgem and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. It has been some time since his Tour de France stage wins. He celebrated a total of four victories in 2012 and 2013. In the last two events he finished second nine times.
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Marcel Kittel (Team Etixx Quick Step)
The German Marcel Kittel is currently without a doubt the best sprinter in the world. In 2013 and 2014 he celebrated four stage wins. He didn't start last year because he wasn't nominated. After his team change to Etixx-Quick Step and his healed injury, he is back in 2016. He has already won nine races this year. His dominance at the Giro d'Italia was terrifying for the competition. The team line-up indicates that the team boss is primarily speculating on stage victories and possibly also the green jersey. So far, however, Marcel Kittel has never focused on the green jersey as Peter Sagan seemed unbeatable. After the rule change last year, that may have changed. Should Marcel Kittel get four stages again and take part in the intermediate sprints at the same time, he is definitely the most promising candidate alongside Peter Sagan.
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André Greipel (Team Lotto Soudal)
Another German driver will ensure that we could see many German sprint duels this year. In terms of pure top speed, only one driver can hold a candle to Marcel Kittel, if at all: André Greipel. The rider from the Lotto-Soudal team won three stages at the Giro d'Italia, but in none of his victories did he have to go into a direct duel with Marcel Kittel. So the balance of power has not yet been clarified this year, even though Greipel surprised Kittel at the German Championship and didn't give Kittel a chance. As expected, there will be a sprint on several flat stages, in which the two Germans will then spur themselves on to top performances. However, the fact that André Greipel is given somewhat smaller chances is due to his lack of consistency. At least one or two flat stages must be expected per tour, in which André Greipel is not to be found at the front. The reason for this is his often bad positioning within the last kilometers. If he and his team have worked on it, then he could even wear the green jersey to Paris.
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Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha)
The Norwegian Alexander Kristoff is a different type of driver compared to Kittel and Greipel. He can be classified between the two Germans and Sagan, as his skills on hills and in the sprint to the finish line are about average. If things get a little bumpier, he has to reckon with Sagan in the finish sprint, while the two Germans may have already been distanced. If it's flat, he usually doesn't get the necessary top speed to beat it. However, since he is stronger than Sagan in a pure sprint, the mean value could end up being the golden mean. In order to achieve this, however, he would have to concentrate fully on the green jersey and also stand up to Sagan on more undulating terrain. With eight wins this year, the Norwegian should definitely not be underestimated.
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Nacer Bouhanni (Team Cofidis)
France's hopes in the flat stages rest primarily on Nacer Bouhanni. He too can look back on a total of eight victories this year. However, he is still waiting for his first stage win in the Tour de France. After moving to Cofidis, he can count on his teammates and drivers Borut Bozic and Jeoffrey Soupe. It's unlikely that Nacer Bouhanni will focus on the green jersey. Getting to the finish line will be much more important for him so that he can finally celebrate the long-awaited stage win. In order to save important energy, sooner or later he will probably forgo the intermediate sprints.
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Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data)
If only five drivers had to be named who have good chances of winning the green jersey, then Mark Cavendish would probably have to be left out this year. The Brit won an incredible 26 Tour de France stages in his career, three at the Vuelta and 15 at the Giro. But these are successes from days gone by, as Mark Cavendish's good results have declined sharply in recent years. In the past two years he has only been able to celebrate one victory in the three Grand Tours. In 2016 he won three races, but the competition was very different from what will be the case here at the Tour de France. That's why Mark Cavendish should have almost no chance. Quite apart from that, he'll probably only care about the finish sprints anyway and ignore the green jersey. After all, he already has it hanging at home because he won the points classification in 2011. This makes him the last winner before Peter Sagan's streak began.
Sprint Royale for the green jersey
The Tour de France traditionally features the best sprinters at the start. Numerous flat stages ensure many chances of stage wins and the green jersey. In addition to the nine drivers mentioned, there are of course around a dozen more who will keep up in the finish sprints and the intermediate sprints. John Degenkolb makes the fast German trio perfect. However, like Michael Matthews, his strengths lie more in the uphill stretch. Edvald Boasson Hagen appears to have recovered and given his strength on the hills he may have the green jersey in his sights. Greg Van Avermaet is also a candidate who has this trait, but both are likely to lose too many points in the sprints to the finish line and ultimately fail due to their consistency and too strong competition. The 23-year-old Dylan Groenewegen, like the 24-year-old Julian Alaphilippe and the 24-year-old Bryan Coquard, shouldn't play a major role, even if they are quite capable of an upset on one or the other stage. In any case, the fight for the green jersey can only be decided by whether Peter Sagan will continue to do everything in his power to take home the trophy. The best sprinters in the world will take points away from each other on the flat stage finishes. If a rider manages to win several flat stages and at the same time also participates diligently in the intermediate sprints, then things could get tight for the world champion. Marcel Kittel and André Greipel are certainly most likely to do this. From a German point of view, we can again look forward to the arrivals with excitement and keep our fingers crossed. Maybe everything in Paris will be okay then.
You can find even more information about the Tour de France 2016, the route, the TV broadcast times and much more on our overview page