Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift jerseys: Explainer

The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift sees the best riders in the world contest the most prestigious event in cycling, and the eventual winner claims one of the most famous items of clothing in all of sport, the yellow jersey.

The yellow jersey is awarded to the leader of the general classification, but there are three other jerseys on offer at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – the green jersey for the points classification, the polka dot jersey for the king of the mountains classification and the white jersey for the best young rider classification.

Here is a look at the four main classifications and the jerseys that are awarded to the leader of each competition. 

The yellow jersey, or maillot jaune, is awarded to the rider who leads the general classification. The rider who leads this classification has completed the race to that point in the shortest aggregate time. It is one of, if not the most prestigious jersey in all of cycling, as whoever holds it at the end of the Tour de France is declared the champion. 

The first-ever yellow jersey in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift was awarded to Lorena Wiebes on the opening stage in the inaugural edition in 2022, after the Dutch rider won the sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées. 

In the end, it was Annemiek Van Vlueten who would take the yellow jersey to victory atop La Super Planche des Belles Filles on the final stage to become the first Tour de France Femmes champion. Lotte Kopecky currently holds the record for the most yellow jerseys obtained, with the Belgian star claiming six in total despite never winning the general classification.

2023 saw Demi Vollering storm to victory, taking the yellow jersey on the penultimate stage after teammate Lotte Kopecky had carried the maillot jaune for the first six stages. Last year, it was Kasia Niewiadoma who pushed herself to the limit in the yellow jersey, in a nail-biting finish on Alpe d’Huez, holding off Demi Vollering by a narrow four seconds to win the maillot jaune and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2024. 

In the end, it was Annemiek Van Vlueten who would take the yellow jersey to victory atop La Super Planche des Belles Filles on the final stage to become the first Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion. Lotte Kopecky currently holds the record for the most yellow jerseys obtained, with the Belgian star claiming six in total despite never winning the general classification. In 2025, time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds will be awarded to the first three riders on each road stage. This time is removed from the riders’ aggregate overall times.

The yellow jersey is currently manufactured by Santini and sponsored by LCL

The green jersey, or maillot vert, is awarded to the rider who leads the points classification each day. The points classification is calculated by awarding points to riders based on their finishing position on each stage, while there are additional points on offer at the intermediate sprint on each road stage. The points on offer vary according to the terrain, with more points awarded on flat stages (50 for the winner) than on hilly and mountainous days (20 for the winner).

Marianne Vos is the only rider to have won a jersey classification in multiple editions of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. The Dutch rider won the green jersey in the inaugural edition of 2022 and is also the defending champion, having been victorious in the points classification in 2024. Lotte Kopecky was the winner of the classification back in 2023. Vos also holds the record for the most days spent in the green jersey with 10.

The green jersey is currently manufactured by Santini and sponsored by Skoda. The shade of green switched from light to dark green ahead of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

The queen of the mountains classification – Le Roi des montagnes in French – is calculated by awarding points to the first riders to the summit of selected climbs along the route of the Tour de France Femmes. The leader is awarded the polka dot jersey, or maillot à pois.

Mountain points are awarded on every classified climb in the race, and the climbs are divided into five distinct categories, ranging from the easiest category 4 hills to the toughest hors catégorie (‘beyond category’) mountain passes. In the event of a tie, the polka dot jersey is awarded to the rider with the most first-place finishes on hors catégorie climbs or summit finishes.

The points allocated to each category of climb are as follows:

Hors catégorie: 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2pts 

1st category: 10, 8, 6, 7, 5, 1pt 

2nd category: 5, 3, 2.

3rd category: 2, 1

4th category: 1 point

There has been a different winner of the queen of the mountains classification in each edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Demi Vollering claimed the jersey in the inaugural edition in 2022 before going on to win the yellow jersey the following year. 

Kasia Niewiadoma repeated the same feat by winning the queen of the mountains jersey in 2023 before taking yellow in 2024. Does this mean that Belgian climber Justine Ghekiere, who won the mountains classification in 2024, is set to win the general classification this year and keep this trend running?

The queen of the mountains jersey is currently manufactured by Santini and sponsored by E.Leclerc.

The white jersey or maillot blanc is awarded to the best-ranked rider under the age of 23 each day on the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. This is different to the men’s race, where the classification is open to riders under the age of 25. The jersey is slightly different to the men's in the sense that there is a shade of purple at the bottom of the jersey. 

We are yet to see the winner of this classification finish in the top 10 on GC, but the position of the winner has improved with each passing edition. Puck Pieterse won the classification last year and finished 11th overall. 

This was an improvement on the two previous winners of this classification, Cédrine Kerbaol in 2023 and Shirin van Anrooij in 2022, who finished 12th and 14th on GC, respectively.

Consequently, no rider has yet to achieve the feat of winning the youth classification, whilst also winning the general classification. Something that has been achieved by six different riders in the men’s race. 

With the upcoming generation of star riders in the women’s peloton, it would be no major surprise to see this feat accomplished in the not-too-distant future.

The youth classification is currently manufactured by Santini and sponsored by Liv Cycling.

There are two additional Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift competitions for which jerseys are not awarded. The team classification is calculated by adding the times of the three highest-placed riders from each team in each stage. The leading team in the classification wears yellow race numbers, and they also have the right to wear yellow helmets, though they are not obliged to do so. Lidl-Trek won the team classification in the 2024 edition, finishing 11 minutes and 52 seconds ahead of FDJ-SUEZ.

On each road stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the combativity award is presented to the rider deemed to have displayed the greatest fighting spirit. The winning rider wears a red race number on the following stage. At the end of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, an overall ‘Super Combativity’ prize is awarded to the rider judged to have been the most aggressive of the entire race. Demi Vollering was awarded the ‘Super Combativity’ award for the 2024 edition.