Giro d'Italia results categories, explained

Many Americans have grown familiar with the categories and competitions at the Tour de France, which are often mimicked at North American stage races. But the Giro has slightly different categories that might need some explanations.

Working down from the top of the VeloNews.com Giro results pages:

Stage results (Ordine d’arrivo): The day’s stage results, not counting any time bonuses or penalties awarded

GC after stage (Classifiche Generali): AKA: Overall standings or General Classification (GC), it is the sum of each rider’s stage times, adjusting for any time bonuses, penalties or other changes. At the Giro, the leader wears the maglia rosa (pink jersey).

Stage points: The first 15 finishers of each stage receive points — from 20 points for the winner down to one point for 15th place. Points also are awarded at intermediate sprints for the first six riders, with the intermediate sprint winner garnering eight points and the sixth getting one point. Each day’s points are tallied in this results category.

Points standings: The leader of the points standings wears the Maglia Rosso Passione (red jersey),  comparable to the green jersey worn by the points leader in the Tour de France.

Azzurri d’Italia (Blue sky)  prize: Similar to the points competition, Azzurri d’Italia points are awarded to just the first three riders on the stage (no intermediate points are awarded). There is no Azzurri d’Italia leader’s jersey, just a cash prize at the end of the Giro.

Young rider standings: A general classification for riders under age 25 (according to UCI age rules, where the racing age is the rider’s age on Dec. 31, 2010). As in the Tour, the leader of this competition wears the Maglia bianca (white jersey)

Stage climber points: Points are awarded for the first few riders over the top of intermediate climbs. The number of points awarded and the number of riders receiving points varies according to the difficulty of the climb. The Giro uses three rankings for its climbs.

Climber standings: AKA King of the Mountain or KOM, the leader of the climber’s competition wears the Maglia verde (green jersey).

Stage Fast Team: Stage finish times for each team’s fastest three riders each day are totaled to determine the day’s Fast Team winner.

Fast Team standings: The general classification of each team’s combined Fast Team times. a variation of what is called Team GC at many races.

Stage Super Team points: Points are awarded to each rider in the top 20 of the stage, and the team with the most total points wins.

Super Team standings: The sum of the daily Super Team points.

Stage’s most aggressive (Premio Combattività): A combination of points from the climbers’ competition, finish positions and intermediate sprints.

Most aggressive standings: The general classification of the daily Premio Combattività points.

Stage escape prize (Premio della Fuga): Members of breakaways of ten riders or fewer are awarded points for each kilometer they stay off the front. The break has to stay away for at least 5 kilometers.

Escape prize standings: The general classification of the daily Premio della Fuga points.

Fair Play standings (Premio Fair Play): A running tally of each team’s penalties for rule violations, with the most penalized teams ranked lower.