2001 Tour de France climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists to reach the top of these climbs, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification and was identified with a polkadot jersey. The fourth individual classification was the young rider classification, which was marked by the white jersey. This was decided in the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years of age were eligible. For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per
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