Actually, it's known as the Polka Dot Jersey. It's the jersey given to the best climber in the tour. That's not really true either actually. It's really the best jersey given to the best tactical climber. Often times the best climber is the guy who wins the Tour but he doesn't usually cross each mountian pass first due to riding in the slip-stream of his team. So, this jersey is usually given to the best climber who can't really time trial well enough to win the Tour. The way it works is that you win points for going over certain designated hills or mountians in the first few spots. In the early stages of the race, these climbs are usually pretty arbitrary as there are lots of small climbs to choose from. These are Cat 4 climbs which aren't worth much. They seem to be included to motivate riders to get into early breakaways for a chance to wear a jersey early on. Look for a guy like Thomas Voeckler or Erik Dekker to try and snag this in the first few stages. The French teams seem to really like to get ahold of this before the real mountains show up.
Once you get to the bigger climbs, this year the Pyrennes are first, the climb ratings are usually higher; Cat 2, Cat 1 or Hors Catagorie (Beyond Classification). This is where the jersey usually gets won. The last several years the tactic has been for a jersey hopeful to go out on a long breakaway on the stage with the most climbs and win a bunch of those. He won't care that he gets caught on the final climb as he'll have built up a huge advantage over the field. That makes things easy to hang onto after that. Jalabert did it for two years, then Virenque and last year Michael Rasmussen did it. The Tour tried to reign the tactic in by making the last climb worth double ppoints if it was the stage finish but that didn't seem to do much to change things. the biggest problem seems to be that each year only one person really seems to want to win the darn thing.
So, Rasmussen is riding again and I expect he'll go for the jersey again. Who else? Well, it depends a lot on tactics. Usually, the guys who go for the jersey diminish their chances of winning a stage somewhat. Additionally, good climbers on a team with a strong Yellow Jersey contender usually ride for their leader. So who does that leave? Well, a lot of guys actually; if they decide to ride for it instead of some lousy tenth place finish. Of course, tenth in the Tour is probably better than second in a secondart jersey competition. Christophe Moreau has sort of hinted at trying over the last couple of years and may try again this year. I suspect he may be pressed into service to ride for Mancebo who's shooting for the podium so I don't expect him to challenge. Voeckler may try to hang onto the jersey for a while and he rode well in the mountainous "Ruta del Sud" so I'd pick him as an outside contender. I think his teammate Didier Rous would do well but I think he'll go for GC so no dice there. A good wild card might be Mercado who rides for the Wild Card Agritubel French team. He can climb somehwat and I don't think his team has much in the way of overall aspirations. Valverde is going for Yellow but I think if I were his team manager I might have him try for the climber's jersey instead. He has a lot of years to ride for the overall and this will give him a chance to test himself over the entire Tour route which he has yet to finish. Egoi Martinez for the Discovery Channel would be a good candidate but a lot depends on how the team's strategy plays out. The best person to challenge in my mind is Iban Mayo. Everyone knows he's going to get killed in the time trials so why not have him shoot for a jersey of a different color? The same is true for the perenial crybaby Gilbreto Simoni and his better mannered countryman Stephano Garzelli on the Liquigas squad.
So, how will it turn out? Here's what I'd like to see:
(1) Mayo, (2) Simoni, (3) Rasmussen
but, given that everone seems to want a high place on the overall leaderboard here's what I think will happen:
(1) Rasmussen
(2) Basso
(3) Mayo
(4) Voeckler
(5) Ullrich
At this point though, there's still a lot to be learned. Of all the classifications, this is the one I'm least sure of. Too much comes down to unclear tactics and motivations. I know what I'd do if I were the manager of some of these teams, but I don't have to answer to sponsors or my riders. I think Mayo has to do something to give back to the fans that have backed him over the last several years. He'll never win the overall but he can make the jersey mean something again. I hope he rides to be the best climber in the Tour this year. Save your strength Iban and don't try for the Yellow but make us root for you as you dance up the Tourmalet.
If recent strategy holds to form, Stage 11 is where the guantlet will really be thrown down in this year's race for the spotted jersey. There may be a temporary holder after stage 10 with it's climb up the Soudet (my guess would be Voeckler) but Stage 11 has five Cat 1 or HC climbs and I think the shakeout will happen there. Stages 16 and 17 also have four big climbs each but I think the jersey may be sown up by then.
Up next, the overall podium.
