Young rider classification in the Tour de France only open for first-time competitors, but in 1987 it became open for all cyclists less than 26 years of age at 1 January of the year following that tour. From 1989-1999, the white jersey was no longer awarded, although the competition was still calculated. Since 2000, the white jersey has again been awarded, open for all cyclists less than 26 years of age at 1 January of the year following that Tour. In 1997, the name of the competition officially changed to 'Souvenir Fabio Casartelli'. The optical retail chain Krys has sponsored the white jersey since 2015. Since the young
1997 Tour de France lead the classification, and was identified with a polkadot jersey. The fourth individual classification was the young rider classification, which was not marked by a jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible. For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. After Ullrich's domination of the 1997 Tour de France at his young age, it was believed that Ullrich would dominate the Tour de France for the next