Tour de France 2022: Meaning behind yellow, green, polka dot and white jersey colours

The 2022 Tour de France sees 176 riders compete for the famous yellow jersey or maillot jaune which rewards the overall winner of the race.

While the yellow jersey, won in 2020 and 2021 by Slovenian prodigy Tadej Pogacar, is the most famous and prestigious of them all, there are three other colours to look out for in the peloton taking on this year's Tour de France route.

The green, polka dot, and white jerseys all have their own meanings, histories and significance for their respective holders.

While some riders (domestiques) work purely for the benefit of their team leader, others work to win individual stages, and others aim purely for one particular jersey.

It is not just the jerseys to watch out for – those riders wearing yellow helmets are the team leading overall when their times are added together, while the previous day’s combativity prize winner (the most aggressive racer) wears a red ‘bib’.

And anyone wearing a rainbow jersey is the reigning world champion – though this year the road champion Julian Alaphilippe is absent, still recovering from injury.

Here are the four Tour de France jerseys:

The biggest prize in cycling is the famous yellow jersey of the Tour de France. It is the awarded to the overall winner and worn by the current race leader at the start of each stage, and it is considered hugely prestigious to don the maillot jaune. It was initially introduced so fans could clearly spot the rider in charge, and took its colour from L’Auto (today L’Equipe), the newspaper owned by race founder Henri Desgrange.

The green jersey is the prestigious prize given to the best sprinter in the Tour. The fastest in the pack compete for the biggest points at the end of flat stages and a smaller haul of points on