The Tour de France has quietly rewritten the rules for the green jersey classification, and it does not take a detective to figure out the real target: Tadej Pogačar.
For 2026, race organizers ASO have tweaked the points scoring system to tilt the maillot vert back toward the peloton pure sprinters after Pogačar came surprisingly close to claiming the jersey last year without even targeting it.
What Changed
According to L Equipe, winners of five designated sprint stages will now earn 70 points instead of the previous 50. Intermediate sprint bonuses have also increased from 20 to 25 points. The biggest points hauls will come on five classic sprint stages finishing in Pau, Bordeaux, Bergerac, Nevers, and Chalon-sur-Saone.
Pogačar finished second in last year points classification behind Jonathan Milan, just 78 points back, beating pure sprinters like Biniam Girmay and Tim Merlier without specifically chasing the jersey. When L Equipe recalculated last year results under the new system, Milan would have banked an additional 80 points. Pogačar only 19.
Why It Matters
The green jersey is the only Tour de France classification Pogačar has yet to win. He already owns four yellow jerseys, three polka dot jerseys, and four consecutive white jerseys before aging out of the young rider category. He enters the 2026 Tour as the favorite to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain as an official five-time winner.
Only two riders have ever won yellow and green in the same year. Merckx pulled it off three times, and Hinault was the last in 1979. Merckx remains the only rider to win yellow, green, and polka dot jerseys in the same year his legendary 1969 sweep.
ASO appears determined to keep at least one prize out of Pogačar reach. Whether you see this as anti-Pogačar or pro-sprinters probably depends on your point of view. Either way, the message is clear: the green jersey is meant for the fast men.
Will the New Rules Be Enough
Should be is the key phrase. Pogačar has never specifically targeted the green jersey, yet he has finished in the top four in the points competition every July since 2022. He keeps bubbling up simply by winning stages and finishing in the top 10 on just about every key day.
The 2026 Tour de France kicks off on July 4 with a team time trial in Barcelona the first time since 1971 the race has opened with a TTT. With one of the most competitive GC fields in history assembling, Pogačar will have plenty to think about beyond the green jersey. But knowing him, ASO rule change might just be viewed as a new challenge to conquer.