A rider will only hold one jersey at a time. If that rider qualifies to hold more than one jersey, then they will be awarded the one with the most prestige and the rider next in line will receive the next one.
This is a good summary of the rules for this year. Article 10 describes what I wrote above.
The last few winners of the TdF have been strong climbers…notably Armstrong, and Miguel Indurain. The individual time trial up L’Alpe D’Huez in 2004 was a convincing show put on by Armstrong adding over 1 minute to his lead over his nearest competitor (Jan Ulrich) and considerably more over the rest of the riders.
BTW, catch the footage of the stage finishes, they are amazing to watch the sprinters try for the line…
You can, just look at the end of the stage today where Lance and Valverde(team Illes Baleares) (stage winner) worked with two guys from another team to power to the top of the mountain. If you’re gonna suck some wheel you’ve got to share the load or the guy leading you is not going to work for you. There have been mountain stages where Lance had help from a non-contending rival and in exchange for his help, Lance let them win the stage.
The difference is that if you are working with guys from different teams (such as a breakaway with say 5 guys in it) the other riders will expect you to take a turn on the front. If however the other 4 guys are on your team, they will only rotate the lead duty among themselves, and one by one they will burn themselves out, leaving you fresh. Today’s stage was a fine example of that. Watch the D boys set the pace and lead Lance up the hill, one by one they break, and peel off. Then Lance took over and rode the wheels off of almost everyone else.
Also, one of the lead teams will generally try to maintain control of the peloton by setting the overall pace. A single rider couldn’t do it by himself.
Besides, you’d have a hard time competing in the one stage that’s set up as a team Time Trial. In that stage, each time rides by itself against the clock, and the the team gets the time of the 5th person across the finish the line.
If, for example, Lance were to get a flat and his team car wasn’t nearby, one of his teammates would swap wheels with him and that teammate would wait for the support car to arrive. That way, Lance wouldn’t lose much time.
Just wanted to come in with the nice fact that Cannibal Eddy “Freaking Superman God” Merckx, in his first tour in 1969, won the yellow, green, and polka dot jerseys. Probably would have also gotten the ‘young rider’ under-25 white one had it existed then, since he was only 24.
You can. However, how fast is he going to want to go with you drafting off him? Answer: not very. Logical conclusion: no one is going to want to go very fast. End result: there is going to be a bunch finish. Can you outsprint those around you? If not, what are you going to do if you have good endurance but aren’t a very good sprinter? Answer: go fast. But if you do, everyone’s going to draft off you. Solution: join a team, so you can draft off them.
The dynamics of road racing are bloody interesting.
In that stage, each time rides by itself against the clock, and the the team gets the time of the 5th person across the finish the line.