1989 Tour de France under 25 years were eligible. In 1989, for the first time since 1975, no actual jersey was worn by the leading rider in this classification. The white jersey would be reintroduced in 2000. 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. The riders in the team that lead this classification wore yellow caps. The combativity award was given to Laurent Fignon. Commemorating the bicentennial anniversary of the French Revolution, a cash prize of 17,890 francs was given out to
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