Domestique Debate: The green jersey should only ever go to a sprinter

A flat stage win is now worth 70 points instead of 50, second place jumps to 50 and third to 40. The seven flat stages also get a second intermediate sprint. As Domestique's Barry Ryan reports, it all looks like an attempt to "Pogačar-proof" the green jersey and keep it in the hands of a pure sprinter.

That raises an old question. Should the green jersey only ever go to a sprinter?

One camp says yes. The points classification was built to crown the fastest finisher, and the maillot vert has long been a sprinter's prize. When a Grand Tour winner like Pogačar can also threaten green, the jersey loses its identity. 

The new maths backs this view: by Sporza's reckoning, if the 2026 system had applied last year, Pogačar would have gained only 19 extra points, while Milan would have collected 80 more. The reward goes to the rider who wins bunch sprints, not the one who already has yellow.

Mads Pedersen sees the intent clearly. The Dane, who replaces Milan as Lidl-Trek's green jersey leader, told journalist Daniel Benson that ASO has tilted the field toward the fast men. "I think ASO wanted to make sure that it's a sprinter who wins the jersey this year, so they put a lot of the intermediate sprints earlier on the stages, or before the big mountains," he said. "They've put more points on the proper sprint days."

But Pedersen also shows why the line is not so clean. He is not a pure bunch sprinter, and the changes do not fully suit him either. "This wasn't really to my advantage, but I still think that we should try and go for the green jersey and see if it's possible to win it," he said. 

"I just have to score points where the big sprinters don't score points." If a rider has to beat the sprinters on flat days and out-think them everywhere else, why should the jersey be reserved for one type alone?

The other camp goes further. The points competition rewards consistency across all terrain, and Pogačar earns those points fairly. Bending the rules to keep out the strongest rider, they argue, protects a category rather than the sport. History sits in the middle: before 2011, stages often had two or three intermediate sprints, then ASO cut it to one. Now it is adding them back, not for the racing, but to steer the result.

So the trade-off is this. Tighten the rules, and you protect the sprinters' jersey, but you also tell the most complete riders that green is off limits. Leave them open, and a single rider could carry off everything.

Should the green jersey be guarded for the sprinters, or earned by whoever scores the most points? Where do you stand?