The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called intermediate sprints. The points classification is the top prize for many cycling sprinters and is often known as the sprint classification; however, in some stage races these classifications are based on different criteria.
The points classification is arguably the second most important title and cycling jersey to win at a cycling stage race behind the general classification, which is the winner of the event by overall time.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Rider also won General classification | |
| Rider also won General and Mountains classification | |
| Year | Giro d'Italia | Tour de France | Vuelta a España | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Introduced in 1966 | Introduced in 1953 | (1/1) | |
| 1953 | (1/1) | Reintroduced in 1955 | ||
| 1954 | (1/1) | |||
| 1955 | (1/2) | (1/1) | ||
| 1956 | (2/2) | (1/1) | ||
| 1957 | (1/1) | (1/1) | ||
| 1958 | (1/2) | (1/1) | ||
| 1959 | (1/2) | (1/3) | ||
| 1960 | (2/2) | (1/1) | ||
| 1961 | (2/2) | (1/1) | ||
| 1962 | (1/2) | (2/2) | ||
| 1963 | (2/3) | (1/1) | ||
| 1964 | (1/5) | (1/1) | ||
| 1965 | (2/5) | (3/3) | ||
| 1966 | (1/1) | (1/1) | (1/1) | |
| 1967 | (1/1) | (4/5) | (3/5) | |
| 1968 | (1/6) | (1/3) | (5/5) | |
| 1969 | (2/3) | (2/6) | (1/1) | |
| 1970 | (3/3) | (1/1) | (1/1) | |
| 1971 | (1/1) | (3/6) | (1/1) | |
| 1972 | (1/3) | (4/6) | (1/2) | |
| 1973 | (6/6) | (1/1) | (5/6) | |
| 1974 | (2/3) | (1/1) | (2/2) | |
| 1975 | (3/3) | (1/1) | (1/1) | |
| 1976 | (1/4) | (1/4) | (1/1) | |
| 1977 | (2/4) | (1/1) | (2/4) | |
| 1978 | (3/4) | (3/4) | (1/1) | |
| 1979 | (1/4) | (1/1) | (1/1) | |
| 1980 | (2/4) | (1/1) | (1/8) | |
| 1981 | (3/4) | (4/4) | (1/1) | |
| 1982 | (4/4) | (2/8) | (1/1) | |
| 1983 | (4/4) | (3/8) | (1/1) | |
| 1984 | (1/1) | (1/1) | (1/1) | |
| 1985 | (1/3) | (4/8) | (5/8) | |
| 1986 | (1/1) | (1/1) | (6/8) | |
| 1987 | (2/3) | (1/1) | (1/1) | |
| 1988 | (3/3) | (1/1) | (7/8) | |
| 1989 | (1/1) | (8/8) | (1/1) | |
| 1990 | (1/1) | (1/1) | (1/2) | |
| 1991 | (1/1) | (1/5) | (2/2) | |
| 1992 | (1/3) | (1/7) | (2/5) | |
| 1993 | (1/1) | (3/5) | (1/2) | |
| 1994 | (4/5) | (5/5) | (2/7) | |
| 1995 | (2/2) | (3/7) | (4/7) | |
| 1996 | (1/2) | (1/9) | (5/7) | |
| 1997 | (2/3) | (2/9) | (6/7) | |
| 1998 | (1/1) | (3/9) | (2/2) | |
| 1999 | (7/7) | (4/9) | (1/1) | |
| 2000 | (1/1) | (5/9) | (1/1) | |
| 2001 | (1/1) | (6/9) | (1/1) | |
| 2002 | (3/3) | (1/3) | (7/9) | |
| 2003 | (1/1) | (1/1) | (8/9) | |
| 2004 | (1/3) | (2/3) | (9/9) | |
| 2005 | (1/2) | (1/3) | (2/3) | |
| 2006 | (2/2) | (3/3) | (2/3) | |
| 2007 | No winner | (1/1) | (1/2) | |
| 2008 | (2/2) | (1/1) | (1/1) | |
| 2009 | (1/1) | (3/3) | (1/1) | |
| 2010 | (1/1) | (3/3) | (1/4) | |
| 2011 | (1/1) | (2/4) | (1/1) | |
| 2012 | (1/1) | (1/8) | (1/4) | |
| 2013 | (3/4) | (2/8) | (2/4) | |
| 2014 | (1/1) | (3/8) | (1/1) | |
| 2015 | (1/2) | (4/8) | (3/4) | |
| 2016 | (2/2) | (5/8) | (1/1) | |
| 2017 | (1/1) | (1/1) | (1/1) | |
| 2018 | (1/1) | (6/8) | (4/4) | |
| 2019 | (1/1) | (7/8) | (1/2) | |
| 2020 | (1/2) | (1/1) | (2/2) | |
| 2021 | (8/8) | (4/4) | (1/1) | |
| 2022 | (2/2) | (1/1) | (1/3) | |
| 2023 | (1/3) | (1/1) | (1/2) | |
| 2024 | (2/3) | (1/1) | (2/2) | |
| 2025 | (2/3) | (3/3) | (3/3) | |
| Year | Giro d'Italia | Tour de France | Vuelta a España |
A. Alessandro Petacchi was the Points leader but tested positive for elevated levels of salbutamol, resulting in a suspension and forfeiture of all results during the event. No alternate winner was declared.
| Rank | Rider | Total | Giro | Tour | Vuelta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | – | 6 (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) | 3 (2002, 2003, 2004) | |
| 2 |  | 8 | – | 4 (1982, 1983, 1985, 1989) | 4 (1980, 1985, 1986, 1988) |
 | 8 | 1 (2021) | 7 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) | – | |
| 4 |  | 7 | 1 (1999) | 2 (1992, 1995) | 4 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997) |
| 5 |  | 6 | 2 (1968, 1973) | 3 (1969, 1971, 1972) | 1 (1973) |
| 6 | 5 | 1 (1994) | 3 (1991, 1993, 1994) | 1 (1992) | |
| 5 | – | 3 (1964, 1965, 1967) | 2 (1967, 1968) | ||
| 8 |  | 4 | 1 (2013) | 2 (2011, 2021) | 1 (2010) |
| | 4 | – | 3 (1976, 1978, 1981) | 1 (1977) | |
 | 4 | 4 (1976, 1977, 1978, 1982) | – | – | |
| | 4 | 4 (1979, 1980, 1981, 1983) | – | – | |
 | 4 | – | – | 4 (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018) | |
In 2013, Zabel admitted to taking banned substances from 1996 to 2003, including EPO and the steroid hormone cortisone.[1]
Winning the points classification in each of the three Grand Tours during a cyclist's career is a significant accomplishment. The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by five riders:[2]
| Rider | Total | Giro | Tour | Vuelta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2 (1968, 1973) | 3 (1969, 1971, 1972) | 1 (1973) | |
| 5 | 1 (1994) | 3 (1991, 1993, 1994) | 1 (1992) | |
| 7 | 1 (1999) | 2 (1992, 1995) | 4 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997) | |
| 3 | 1 (2004) | 1 (2010) | 1 (2005) | |
| 4 | 1 (2013) | 2 (2011, 2021) | 1 (2010) | |
Winning the points classification in two Grand Tours in a single year is a rare feat.
| Tour de France and Vuelta a España | |
|---|---|
| 1962 | Rudi Altig |
| 1967 | Jan Janssen |
| 1985 | Sean Kelly |
| 1995 | Laurent Jalabert |
| Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | ||
| 2025 | Mads Pedersen | |
In previous tours, sometimes a stage was broken in two (or three). "Days" column gives the number of times the cyclist was a classification leader at the end of the day. Numbers in brackets include split stages.
after the end of 2025 Tour de France
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Current records | |
| Rider was leading in all Grand Tours | |
| scope=col | Rank | scope=col | Rider | scope=col | Days | scope=col | Leading span | scope=col | Giro | scope=col | Tour | scope=col | Vuelta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | scope=row align=left style="background: #ffefd5" | Peter Sagan | 149 | 2011–2021 | 14 | 130 | 5 | ||||||
| 2 | scope=row align=left | Sean Kelly | 148 (151) | 1979–1989 | 0 | 65 (67) | 83 (84) | ||||||
| 3 | scope=row align=left | Erik Zabel | 141 (142) | 1996–2007 | 0 | 88 (89) | 53 | ||||||
| 4 | scope=row align=left style="background: #ffefd5" | Laurent Jalabert | 105 | 1990–1999 | 2 | 25 | 78 | ||||||
| 5 | scope=row align=left style="background: #ffefd5" | Freddy Maertens | 93 (102) | 1976–1981 | 9 (12) | 65 (70) | 19 (20) | ||||||
| 6 | scope=row align=left style="background: #ffefd5" | Eddy Merckx | 84 (91) | 1968–1974 (1975) | 51 (52) | 30 (35) | 3 (4) | ||||||
| 7 | scope=row align=left style="background: #ffefd5" | Mark Cavendish | 81 | 2009–2021 | 23 | 43 | 15 | ||||||
| 8 | scope=row align=left style="background: #ffefd5" | Roger De Vlaeminck | 76 (81) | 1969–1984 | 67 (71) | 8 (9) | 1 | ||||||
| 9 | scope=row align=left | Giuseppe Saronni | 74 (76) | 1978–1985 | 74 (76) | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 10 | scope=row align=left style="background: #ffefd5" | / Djamolidine Abdoujaparov | 73 | 1991–1995 | 3 | 54 | 16 | ||||||
| 11 | scope=row align=left |  Robbie McEwen | 69 | 2002–2007 | 18 | 51 | 0 | ||||||
Six other riders were leading points classification in all three Grand Tours: Rudi Altig, Marino Basso, Francesco Moser, Thierry Marie, Alessandro Petacchi and André Greipel.Petacchi is the sole cyclist that did this in one season (2003).
The rider with the most Grand Tour days at the top of the classification in a single calendar year is Laurent Jalabert - 35 in 1995.
