Who will wear the other jerseys in Paris?

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The prolific Tom Boonen(Image credit: Shane Stokes)

93rd Tour de France - ProT

The Tour does not simply reward the rider with the shortest elapsed time over the three-weeks duration of the race. Some riders, and indeed entire teams, will target the sprinter's and mountain's prizes if they do not have a realistic chance of a high overall placing. The competition for the points and the mountains prizes are much more than a mere sideshow to the main event, the winners will stand alongside the yellow jersey winner in Paris as the top riders in their specialty.

The green jersey prize generally goes to the most consistent finisher, not necessarily the most prolific stage winner. Green jersey legends Sean Kelly and Erik Zabel founded their records on their relentless accumulation of points. Kelly won four green jerseys but only claimed five stages in his long career. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon - Lotto) and Tom Boonen (Quickstep - Innergetic) could provide the fireworks in the first week, but they will need to defend their points all the way to Paris by sprinting for small bonuses along the race route and for minor stage placings.

The openness of the sprint competition in the last five years has been a large part of its attraction. The points prize has had four different winners during this time. The competition has also been sustained for long periods, with the final victor generally being forced to fight all the way to Paris. Thor Hushovd had to wait until the final stage last year before he secured the title and 2003 incumbent Robbie McEwen lost his jersey to Baden Cooke on the last day.

The battle for the sprinter's prize has a relatively small list of possible winners. McEwen, Tom Boonen and Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) have the most realistic chance of securing the green jersey. Alessandro Petacchi's absence due to a broken kneecap sustained during stage three of the Giro narrows the quality of the field considerably. It's hard to see Erik Zabel (Milram) consistently coming around the really fast men in bunch gallops, despite his sentimental favouritism.

McEwen won three stages of the Giro this year and used the Tour of Switzerland to sharpen his form in a bid to regain his Tour points title. He told Cyclingnews' Shane Stokes that his wins in the Giro will lead to more wins in the Tour, "last year I also won three stages in the Giro, then went on to take three in the Tour," he said. "This time, I took three in the Giro again so if it goes the same way I will be happy with that. Actually, if I just win one in the Tour, it is still good,

Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank), 2005 winner of the polka dot jersey competition, could face an intriguing battle with his ex-mountain bike colleague Cadel Evans for prize this year. Rasmussen secured the prize when the other contenders gave him too much freedom early in the race. He and Evans may be overly preoccupied with the GC, leaving the jersey open to another rider willing to model themselves on his example.

The mountains prize also requires consistency, but not necessarily to the same extent as the points. A rider wanting climbing points can get in a breakaway on one of the first big mountain stages and win the lions share of the points. The defence of the jersey can require another long breakaway, but polka dot contenders don't have to concentrate on every single bonus point like the sprinters do, because the big climbs are worth so much more than the small ones.

Iban Mayo's return to form in the Dauphine may inspire him to chase the prize if he finds himself out of contention for the overall, which is likely considering his weakness in the time trials. He could lose minutes to Ullrich in the stage seven time trial, inspiring him to have a crack at the mountains prize and stage wins. His form is also better than last year, when he had a mediocre ride in the Tour de Suisse.