Tour de France points available for harder climbs. The classification was preceded by the "meilleur grimpeur" () which was awarded by the organising newspaper "l'Auto" to a cyclist who completed each race. The classification awarded no jersey to the leader until the 1975 Tour de France, when the organizers decided to award a distinctive white jersey with red dots to the leader. The climbers' jersey is worn by the rider who, at the start of each stage, has the largest number of climbing points. If a rider leads two or more of classifications, the climbers' jersey is worn by the rider in second,
2009 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21 2009 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21 These were the individual stages of the 2009 Tour de France, with Stage 12 on July 16 and Stage 21 on July 26. 16 July 2009 – Tonnerre to Vittel, 200 km This was considered a flat stage, but had six hills that contributed points towards the climbers' competition. After some unsuccessful attempts at breakaways early in the stage, after 64 km Laurent Lefèvre started a breakaway. He was followed by the leader in the polka dot jersey category, Egoi Martínez, and the third-placed rider in that category, Franco Pellizotti, along