Brit Cavendish among favourites for Tour de France green jersey

Miles Crosby | July 4, 2015

Following on from our look at the contenders for overall victory in the Tour de France, it’s time to look at the sprinters who will be fighting it out for the green jersey. Amongst these is Britain’s Mark Cavendish, a former winner of the prize and of a phenomenal 25 Tour stages.

To recap, the green jersey is awarded to the leader of the points classification. At the end of each stage the top 15 riders gain points depending on their finishing position; the higher the position the more points the rider gets. This competition is separate from the yellow jersey for the overall lead, but sprinters enter the Tour specifically to try and win the green jersey. For more information on the points competition and the Tour de France, check out Coral’s beginners guide to the Tour.

The Isle of Man’s Cavendish has already been briefly mentioned, and for good reason. He is one of the outstanding sprinters of his generation, many would say the best, being third in the list of all-time Tour stage wins and fourth for Grand Tour stage victories.

Despite this, Cavendish has only claimed one green jersey, as his sprinting style is better suited for stage wins rather than the consistency needed for overall points. He recently won the points jersey in the Tour of California, used a warm up race for the Tour, however, and is showing good form. He sits third in the odds with Coral at 5/1, but will be hungry for another green jersey and the points system benefits stage winners like Cavendish more this year.