Tour de France - Next month, the Tour de France comes to London. If you are a newbie to cycling, check out our beginners guide.

YELLOW JERSEY - Overall general classification

Since its inception in 1903, the Tour de France proved to be a fabulous hit for race organisers - French newspaper L'Auto. The forerunner of L'Equipe - whose parent company owns the race to this day - was published on yellow paper and in 1919, in a move of marketing genius, it was decided that the overall race leader would wear yellow. France's Eugène Christophe wore it first as fans on the side of the road could finally pick out the one to watch in a zooming pack.

If two riders are tied overall, hundreds of seconds splits in individual time trials determine the race leader.

- Bonification seconds - or bonus seconds - are shaved off the winners of all stages, except the individual time trials. They are respectively; 20'', 12'' et 8'' to the top three in a stage.

- For every stage (including individual time trials), bonfication seconds are awarded for intermediate sprints (during the race). They are respectively 6'', 4'', 2'' for the top three.

For every intermediate sprint, the first three riders to the line receive 6, 4 and 2 points respectively.

GREEN JERSEY - Most points

The jersey determines the race's speed demon, therefore - the flatter it is, the higher the stakes:

Flatland stages: 35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points are awarded to the first 25 riders across the finish.

Medium-mountain stages: 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 20 riders across the finish.

High-mountain stages: 20, 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 15 riders across the finish.

Time-trials: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the top 10 finishers of the stage.

In case of a tie, the number of stage wins determine the green jersey, then the number of intermediate sprint victories, and finally, the rider's standing in the overall classification.

Important reminder for Alessandro Petacchi: To win the green jersey, you have to finish the Tour de France.

POLKA DOT JERSEY - King of the Mountain

The Tour de France's best-climber ranking is determined by the accumulation of mountain points throughout the race. The breakdown is as follows:

Climbs rated "Hors Catégorie" (Top Category): 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points for the first 10 riders to the summit.

Category 1 climbs: 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points for the first 8 riders to the summit.

Category 2 climbs: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5 for the first 6 riders to the summit.

Category 3 climbs: 4, 3, 2 and 1 points for the first 4 riders to the summit.

Category 4 climbs: 4: 3, 2 and 1 points for the first 3 riders to the summit.

NOTE: For the final climb on a stage's profile the points are doubled (for Top Category, Category 1 and Category 2 climbs only).

In case of a tie between two riders, the one with the most Top Category wins takes the jersey, then it's the one with the most Cat. 1 wins, etc...

WHITE JERSEY - Best young rider

In this year's race, the rider born after January 1st 1982 with the best overall time will wear the jersey

RULES

- Riders are eliminated from the race if they finish too far behind. The Tour in its rulebook spells out a yardstick according to the flatness of the stage and its speed that day. On a flat stage that goes slowly (less than 34km/h), the cut-off is 4% of the winner's time. That coefficient climbs according to the speed of the pack to reach 12% of the winner's time if the race is travelling above 48km/h. On mountain stages, that coefficient can reach 18%, on time trials, it's a flat 25% of the best time for everyone, and in some cases (especially in the mountains), organisers have bent the rules when faced with the prospect of sending home half the peloton.

- In case of a crash, puncture, mechanical problem that's duly witnessed in the last three kilometres of a stage, the victim will be allotted the same time as the riders he was with at the moment of the incident. If the rider is unable to finish the stage, he'll finish last on the stage. In certain exceptional circumstances, race jurors will hear appeals.

- Helmets are mandatory, even in mountain stages. Infractions will mean a fine.

- No free ride: A rider is not allowed to slipstream behind a motorbike or car or hang on to the open window of a car. Race organisers however turn a blind eye if an injured rider's getting a tape job on the go from the team car.

- No funny stuff: The Tour de France reserves itself the right to exclude from the race any team or member whose presence could taint the image of cycling, the organisation, or the race.

- No nude cycling: Other reasons for exclusion include breaking French law, breaking the Tour de France code of ethics, indecent apparel or inappropriate behaviour, smuggling while passing customs, the non-use of transport provided by the Tour during transfers.