debut: 5/4/03
19,373 runs
In reply to KTom
Lol... He is not competing to win the Tour, or general classification (gc). He is here to sprint and win stages and right now he is leading and looking good to win the prestigious green jersey which is what sprinters compete for at the Tour.
There are 22 teams in the race. Of those I would say only 11 had a realistic chance to win the thing coming in.
Now there are only about 6 teams with guys close enough to challenge for the gc.
That's why there are 4 jerseys given away.
Yellow, is the big prize.
Green for the sprinter who amassesthe most points for winning intermediate sprints and stage wins. Biniam currently leads by 96 points over Jasper Phillipsen, who won that last year.
Then the less significant Polka dot jersey for the mou tain classification....since a climber usually/always wins the Tour, he usually also wins that jersey....but there are some who go in breakaway and wi the early mou tains point.
And finally the White young rider jersey. For riders under 25. Usually a young rider highest in GC wins that. Which is Remco right now....he sits second in the standings.
The Eritreans are really going crazy. Winning at the Tour is a crowning achievement.
But Biniam has some other significant wins....at other tours and a monument and what was his best win for me, he outsprinted one of the most devastating puncheurs in MVP at the Tour of Britain a couple years ago....I believe that might have been his first win at this level....but I may be wrong.
Someone posted that this will be a boon to cycling in Africa.....there already is a ton of African cyclist. Of course him winning, like any other national winner, opens the eye of more youth.but the issue right now is the world Tour teams are not as inclined to give them a shot on the rosters.