By now the Tour de France should be in full swing and I’d imagine that there has been a succession of different riders wearing the yellow leader’s jersey. But what about all the other coloured jerseys, what are those for?

Green, the sprinter’s jersey, is for the leader on points which have been awarded for position in the intermediate sprints along the route and at the finishing line.

Polka Dot is for the best climber. This is for points awarded for position as the field goes over certain hills or mountain passes. The winner is traditionally called ‘the King of the Mountains’.

White is for the best young rider who is 25 years old or younger.

Yellow is for the rider who has taken the shortest time to cover the route. This is worked out by adding up all the riders’ stage times together. Don’t forget though that even if a rider falls in the last three kilometres, he still gets the time that the group he was riding in is given.

Braking (hard) News

Thriller in Manila
Regular readers will probably remember me writing about Rollapaluza, the company that is bringing old time roller racing back into popularity. After a very successful period in London, where the racing is accompanied by rock music, ale and celebrities, the Rollapaluza crew have taken the idea out to Manila in the Philippines. Out there, their business partner is a chap called David Charlton, proprietor of David’s Salons and champion of women’s cycling. David already backs an all women cycling team.

The first event was a huge success. Massive pre-event national television and newspaper coverage ensured a good turnout of spectators, in fact several thousand turned up! During the evening several national cycling celebrities took part, including the national cycling coach, three national cycling champions and a triathlon champion.

Hoping for offspring? Give up cycling
Apparently too much cycling, and we’re talking 190 miles plus a week here, will cause ‘significant’ fertility problems. In Spain, a recent study of triathletes, who cycled more than 190 miles a week in training, showed them to have less than 4% normal looking sperm. The report went on to say that very high levels of exercise affected the fertility of both men and women.

Fortunately for most of us, our everyday commute to the office should not cause any problems. Dr Allan Pacey, of Sheffield University, reinforces this by saying that 40 years ago people cycled all the time, and fertility in men was never a problem.

Even if you do cycle a lot, take heart, Chris Boardman who broke three World Hour records, won an Olympic Gold and held the yellow jersey in the Tour de France has managed to father six children.

Cyclepoint arriving at Paddington Station
A proposed scheme, costing £750,000, could turn London’s Paddington Station into cycle commuter heaven.

The plan is to construct a huge cycle park, with space for up to 1,000 bikes, a cycle hire depot, a sales area and a repair shop at Paddington. The idea has been developed by Dutch rail operator Ned railways, who already have 40 similar sites in Holland. They are currently building a facility for 500 bikes in Leeds. The cyclists that will use the site will have a swipe card to gain access and the proposed cost will be around 75 pence a day.

And finally
Did you know that Formula One star Mark Webber is a keen cyclist? He regularly road cycles and does mountain biking as part of his training for motorsport. He has recently received a custom painted, top of the range Giro Ionos helmet, in Red Bull livery of course!

• Arthur Lamy is the manager of Boudins for Bikes, in Sand Street, and author of Jersey Cycles. He has spent 15 years as a tourist guide and writer, and is also a keen photographer. More information can be found on his website: www.arthurlamy.com