Special rules approved by the French Cycling Federation

The 66^th Paris-Nice which is organised by Amaury Sport Organisation, will take place from Sunday 9 to Sunday 16 March with 1 prologue and 7 stages.

The race is open to teams which are limited to a maximum of 8 cyclists and a minimum of 5 cyclists.

The race office will be open on Saturday 8 March from 2.30 pm to 6 pm.

Race number bibs can be picked up by the licensed teams’ managers from 2.30 pm to 4.15 pm.

The Sports Directors’ meeting is scheduled to take place at 5.00 pm in the organisation’s race office, in the presence of the Commissioners’ Committee members.

Race information will be broadcast on the “Radio-Tour” frequency, 169.425 MHZ.

Neutral technical assistance services are provided by Mavic. This service is ensured by 3 technical vehicles and a motorbike for stages where there are accidents.

The overall individual time classification is established by adding together the times recorded for each stage of the race and the prologue, including bonuses and penalties.

The leader of the overall individual time classification wears the Yellow Jersey.

Les prix du classement général individuel sont :

A best climber classification is determined over all of mountain passes and hills of the race's 7 stages.

For each of the hills, the following points are awarded:

• Category 3 hills: 4 - 2 - 1 points to the 3 best cyclists.
• Category 2 hills: 7 - 5 - 3 - 2 - 1 points to the 5 best cyclists.
• Category 1 mountain passes and hills: 10 - 8 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 points to the 7 best cyclists.

An overall individual classification is established by adding together the points obtained on all of the mountain passes and hills.

The leader of the classification wears the Polka dot Jersey.

In the event of a tie in the overall individual mountain classification, the following criteria are applied to determine the overall winner:

• the number of first places achieved for category 1 mountain passes and hills.
• the number of first places achieved for category 2 hills.
• the number of first places achieved for category 3 hills.
• the overall final time classification.

The prize money awarded to the best climber classification is:

For each of the 29 mountain passes and hills:

• 1^st: € 100
• 2^nd: € 75
• 3^rd: € 25

Total: € 200 X 29 = € 5,800

For the overall final classification:

• 1^st: € 2,000
• 2^nd: € 1,000
• 3^rd: € 800
• 4^th: € 400

Total: € 4,200

Total amount of prize money for the best climber € 10,000

A classification by points is established by adding together the points obtained in each of the 7 stages and the prologue, as well as in the intermediate sprints.

At the finish line the following points are awarded:

25 - 22 - 20 - 18 - 16 - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 points to the first 20 cyclists to cross the finish line.

For each intermediary sprint: 3 - 2 - 1 points.

The leader of the individual classification by points wears the Green Jersey.

In the event of a tie in the overall final classification by points, the following criteria are applied to determine the overall winner:

• the number of stage wins;
• the number of wins in the intermediate sprints counting for the classification by points
• the overall final time classification.

The prize money awarded in the classification by points is:

For each of the intermediate sprints:

• 1^st: € 100
• 2^nd: € 75
• 3^rd: € 25

Total: € 200 X 14 = € 2,800

For the overall final classification:

• 1^st: € 2,000
• 2^nd: € 1,000
• 3^rd: € 800
• 4^th: € 400

Total: € 4,200

Total amount of prize money for the overall classification by points € 7,000

The young cyclist classification is reserved for cyclists who were born after 1 January 1983.

The leader of the young cyclist classification wears a White Jersey.

The prize money awarded in the young cyclist classification is:

Prologue and 7 stages:

• 1^st: € 150

Total: € 150 X 8 = € 1,200

For the overall final classification:

• 1^st: € 800

Total amount of prize money for the overall young cyclist classification € 2,000

The team’s daily classification is established by adding together the three best individual times of each team. If a tie should result from this, then the overall winning team will be determined by adding up the number of stage wins achieved by their 3 best cyclists. If a further tie should result from this, then the overall winning team is determined by the position of their best cyclist in the stage’s classification.

The overall team classification is established by adding together each team’s three individual times in each of the stages in which they competed. In the event of a tie, the following criteria are applied to determine the overall winning team:

• the number of first places in the daily team classifications,
• the number of second places in the daily team classifications,
• etc.

If a tie should still result from this, the overall winning team will be determined by the position of their best cyclist in the overall individual classification.

Any team which is reduced to less than three cyclists is eliminated from the overall team classification.

The total amount of prize money distributed for the 66^Th Paris-Nice is:

• Overall individual time classification: € 120,000
• Best climber classification: € 10,000
• Individual classification by points: € 7,000
• Young cyclist classification: € 2,000

Total amount of prize money: € 139,000

Time bonuses only added to the overall individual classification are awarded in the 7 in-line stages.

Bonuses are awarded as follows:

• For each of the intermediate sprints: 3" - 2" and 1" to the 3 best cyclists.
• At the finish line of the stages: 10" - 6" and 4" to the 3 best cyclists.

The finishing deadlines are as follows:

• Prologue: no finishing deadline,
• 1^st - 2^nd - 5^th: flat stages = 8%,
• 3^rd - 4^th - 6^th - 7^th: medium mountain stages = 12%.

Exceptional cases will be resolved by the Commissioners’ Committee after consulting the race’s Executive Management.

The finish line of the 4^th stage in the Mont Serein - Mont Ventoux Resort is an uphill finish line. The rule of the last 3 kilometres does not apply.

For the prologue, where cyclists will compete against the clock individually, they will begin at 1 minute intervals in the starting order established by the race’s Executive Management in agreement with the team managers and the Jury of commissioners.

Anti-doping controls are carried out by appointed officials according to French legal regulations, in the organisation’s caravan at the finish line of each stage.

At the end of each stage, the following cyclists must attend the protocol ceremony:

At the finish:

• the stage winner,
• the leader of the individual general classification,
• the leader of the classification by points,
• the leader of the best climber classification,
• the leader of the young cyclist classification.

The table of penalties which are stipulated in the general rules will be applied to the Paris-Nice 2008.