The first ever points classification was held in 1945. However, it was in 1963 that the Vuelta introduced a scoring system for this competition that’s similar to what we have today.
Unlike with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia where the points competition is based on sprints both intermediary and at the finish of flat stages, the Vuelta’s competition is based on where a rider finishes at the end of the stage and any intermediate sprints along the way.
Furthermore, there are points awarded on mountain stages as well. This is a big difference between the Vuelta and the other two Grand Tours. It’s also why there’s a strong correlation between the points classification winner and the overall Vuelta race winner.
Vuelta a Espana betting sites have released their odds for the points classification. Let’s take a closer look at this competition, identify the best betting options, and predict who will win the green jersey.
💚 Favoritos para el maillot verde / Green jersey: contenders 💚
🇮🇪 @Sammmy_Be
🚴🏼♂️ @deceuninck_qst
#LaVuelta20 / @skoda_es pic.twitter.com/p5vtylNPot— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) October 18, 2020
Previous Points Classification Winners
Sean Kelly, Laurent Jalabert and Alejandro Valverde hold the record for the most all time wins of this competition with four apiece. Primoz Roglic won this competition in 2019 and returns to this year’s Vuelta to defend his overall crown.
The following is a list of previous winners dating back to 2010:
- Mark Cavendish in 2010
- Bauke Mollema in 2011
- Alejandro Valverde in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018
- John Degenkolb in 2014
- Favio Felline in 2016
- Chris Froome in 2017
- Primoz Roglic in 2019
Vuelta a Espana Betting Odds
The following cycling betting odds are courtesy of BetOnline:
- Primoz Roglic (+175)
- Sam Bennett (+250)
- Alejandro Valverde (+400)
- Tom Dumoulin (+1000)
- Pascal Ackermann (+1200)
- Thibaut Pinot (+1800)
- Magnus Cort Nielsen (+2000)
- Alexander Vlasov (+2500)
- Jasper Philpsen (+2500)
- Richard Carapaz(+2500)
- Alex Aranburu (+2800)
- Chris Froome (+2800)
- Enric Mas Nicolau (+4000)
- Michael Woods(+4000)
- Ivan Sosa (+5000)
- Sepp Kuss (+5000)
- Matteo Moschetti (+6600)
- Dan Martin (+8000)
Roglic puts Tour de France loss behind him as Vuelta a España defence begins.
Jumbo-Visma head to Spain with stacked team #vuelta2020 https://t.co/swGfJPBnRJ pic.twitter.com/oqhSjGbXnr
— Cyclingnews.com (@Cyclingnewsfeed) October 19, 2020
Top Choices for the Green Jersey Competition
Based on the cyclists in this year’s Vuelta a Espana, the following riders are the best choices to win this year’s Points Classification:
Primoz Roglic (+175)
Last year, Roglic took this competition by 19 points over Tadej Pogacar. Roglic’s finishes on the mountain stages helped him beat out sprinters like Sam Bennett who was 21 points behind.
Roglic would go on to win last year’s red jersey competition as well. Furthermore, he’s the betting favorite to win the Vuelta a Espana this year. You have to like Roglic’s chances of sweeping the red and green jerseys once again.
Sam Bennett (+250)
Sam Bennett is the best of the sprinters to take the field for the Vuelta. He ended Peter Sagan’s green jersey reign at the Tour de France and is now looking to capture his first Vuelta points classification.
Bennett has only competed in two races since the TDF, so his legs should be fresh. The only concern is how Bennett will do in the six mountain stages.
Expect Bennett to take all of the intermediate sprint points that he can get, in order to compete for the overall win in this competition.
Valverde: We have to race the Vuelta a España like a series of Classics.
Movistar leader warns ‘this can be lost from day one’https://t.co/vl5A2K8Sie pic.twitter.com/prZhY0FlDc
— Cyclingnews.com (@Cyclingnewsfeed) October 19, 2020
Alejandro Valverde (+400)
As mentioned, Alejandro Valverde has won this competition four times. His latest victory came in 2018, but he also has four runner ups and three third place results. That gives Valverde 11 Top 3 results in this points competition.
Despite being 40 years of age, Valverde finished 4th last year in this competition and has raced well in 2020 so far. He was 12th at the Tour de France and 8th in the World Championships road race.
You can never count out Valverde in the Vuelta especially when it comes to the green jersey.
Tom Dumoulin (+1000)
Dumoulin is the second overall betting favorite to win the Vuelta a Espana. So, it’s not a surprise that he’s one of the favorites for the points classification as well.
Dumoulin will follow the same path to victory in this competition that Valverde and Roglic have perfected over the last few years.
That path is to finish high on the mountain stages and not too far back in the sprint finishes. The one concern for Dumoulin is that he will be racing for his leader Primoz Roglic, so be cautious if you are looking at “Tommy D.” to win this competition.
Pascal Ackermann (+1200)
The German rider is one of the top contenders to compete with Sam Bennett when it comes to the sprints. He’s looked strong in sprint finishes over the few races that he’s competed in.
At the BickBank Tour, Ackermann was 3rd in the first two stages. However, it was at Tirreno-Adriatico where Ackerman won that event’s points classification.
The biggest concern is he will have to beat out Sam Bennett to have a shot at winning this competition. As of now, I don’t see that happening.
Richard Carapaz (+2500)
Carapaz comes into this year’s Vuelta as the leader of Team INEOS. He has a strong supporting cast that features the return of Chris Froome.
Carapaz has raced well this year with a 13th in the Tour de France and a 2nd in the mountains classification. Since this year’s Vuelta has numerous mountain stages, Carapaz could really take advantage of these summits and contend for this points competition.
Additionally, I believe that the 2019 Giro d’Italia winner will be a contender for the overall race win. Carapaz offers the best betting value to win the points classification as he’s a favorite to land on the podium by time it’s all said and done.
Who Will Win the Points Classification?
My top four candidates to win this competition are: Roglic, Valverde, Carapaz and Bennett.
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We’re taking on @lavuelta with:
🇩🇪 @Ackes171
🇦🇹 @gro_felix
🇪🇪 @Laaasu
🇦🇺 @JayMcCarthy1
🇳🇱 @IdeSchelling
🇩🇪 Andreas Schillinger
🇩🇪 Michael Schwarzmann
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However, with the number of mountain stages, the poor weather, and the peaks that these riders have to climb, I like Roglic or Carapaz to win the points classification. Since we can only pick one, I’m taking Roglic to win this competition and the overall race as well.
Who Will Win the Points Classification? –Primoz Roglic (+175)
Rick Rockwell
As a longtime freelance writer, avid sports fan, former athlete, and experienced sports bettor, Rick Rockwell has risen up the ranks at GamblingSites.org to become the self-professed “King of the Blog” in his first year with the site. …
