Without starting a discussion on whether Peter Sagan’s victory in the Tour de France points classification was a well deserved one, race organizers decided to implement some changes to points distribution system to give more importance to stage victories.

Sagan impressed with his consistency in this year’s Tour de France finishing all but one flat stages inside the top ten, including no less than four runner-up spots taken in finishes into Harrogate, London, Nancy and Saint-Etienne.

However, the Slovak missed out on a victory on his way to take third consecutive green jersey at la Grande Boucle and to avoid such situation in next year’s edition, race organizers implemented a novel points distribution system to be implemented on the 9 flat stages of the 2015 Tour de France.

On the mentioned flat stages, first 15 riders to cross the finish line will be rewarded with  50, 30, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 points respectively.

On the remaining 12 stages, 45, 35, 30, 26, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 points will be granted for the first 15 riders completing the stage.

Commenting on a change in the points distribution system, the Tour de France course director Thierry Gouvenou explained that it was meant to give bigger importance to stage victories and bring sure sprinters back into contention for a green jersey.

“We have made some changes to the green jersey competition next year. When we are almost certain that the stage will end in a sprint, we will add a little bonus to first place,” Gouvenou explained.

“Previously we’ve had 45, 35 and 30 points for the top three positions respectively. Now we will award 50, 30 and 20 points.”

“The person who wins the stage will have a bigger advantage over the others, and it’s something which brings the pure sprinters back into the frame for the green jersey.”