The general classification (or the GC) in

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...

is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulative time across all stages.BBC Sport http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/tour_de_france/378101.stm Hence, whoever leads the GC is generally regarded as the overall leader or winner of the race. Riders who finish in the same group are awarded the same time, with possible subtractions due to time bonuses. Two riders are said to have finished in the same group if the gap between them is less than three seconds. A crash or mechanical incident in the final 3 kilometres of a stage that finishes without a categorised climb usually means that riders thus affected are considered to have finished as part of the group they were with at the 3 km mark, so long as they finish the stage. It is possible to win the GC without winning a stage. It is also possible to win the GC race without being the GC leader before the last stage. The most important stages of a bicycle race for GC contenders are mountain stages and

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

stages, both of which offer good opportunities for a single racer to outperform other racers.

Jerseys

In many bicycle races, the current leader of the GC gets a special

jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

awarded. In the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, the leader wears a

yellow jersey The general classification of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...

, in the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

a pink jersey, and in the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

the leader's jersey is red.

Jerseys of the major stage races

The listed year is the first edition of the race. The jersey was sometimes added later.

Jerseys

Jerseys of the major stage races

References

See also