Now that you mention those coming second Brett, I thought I saw on the news a while back that those who did come second have not all been awarded first place? I could have sworn it said for some reason only one has been promoted to first place , I may be wrong on this of course.
Rob
Rob,
Not sure what happens there but being elevated to 1st ten years after the event probably not that exciting. There was a particular British journalist who was onto him for over ten years and it might have been his story that got the Times sued. I think I read something by him recently that indicated most teams in 90's and early 2000's were using drugs. Were not going to win otherwise. Hard to think of a sport where endurance so important (triathlons would be the other obvious one).
However I looked up the prize money and in 2011 was as below. Considering how tough the race is, how long it goes for and team costs the prize money does not seem that great compared to tennis, golf etc. Armstrong obviously made much more from sponsors.
Stage victory
The 21 stages of the 2011 Tour de France are divided up as follows: 10 flat stages, 6 mountain stages and 4 summit finishes, 3 medium mountain stages, 1 individual time-trial stage (41 km), 1 team time-trial stage (23 km).
Prize money: € 8,000 to the winner of each stage (€ 475,000 in total).
The Yellow Jersey
It is worn by the leader of the general individual time classification.
Prize money: € 450,000 for the outright winner (€ 1,005,000 in total).
The Green Jersey
It is worn by the leader of the points classification. The points can be won on intermediate sprints and at stage finishes.
Prize money: € 25,000 for the outright winner (€ 128,000 in total).
The Red Polka Dot Jersey
It is worn by the best climber. Points for best climber classification are awarded at the top of any classified slope.
Prize money: € 25,000 for the outright winner (€ 104,700 in total).
The White Jersey
It is worn by the best young rider aged 25 years or less in the general individual time classification.
Prize money: € 20,000 for the outright winner (€ 66,500 in total).
Most aggressive rider
This distinction is awarded at the end of each stage by a jury made up of eight cycling specialists. An outright winner is designated after the last stage of the Tour.
Prize money: € 20,000 for the outright winner (€ 56,000 in total).
The team classification
This classification is determined by adding the times of the best three riders of each squad in each stage.
Prize money: € 50 000 € for the winning team (€ 176,000 in total).
Best climber classification: double points for the final climb
Since the 2004 edition of the Tour de France, the competition for the Red Polka Dot Jersey includes a detail that adds a certain amount of spice to the race: for the final climb on a stage's profile, the points are doubled for Category 1, Category 2 and Top Category climbs. So the riders who lead this classification are undoubtedly the most courageous ones and the prize goes to those who remain out in front in this classification for the longest period of time.
Brett
