Recent recon rides in France have seen that the sunflower crop is only a few centimetres tall right now after a damp and grey start to summer. But sans sunflowers you know its July when you see the polka dot jersey. Hes a look at the riders who might be sporting it soon.The mathsPoints are awarded as follows:Cime de la Bonnette: 40-30-24-20-16-12-8-4 pointsHors Catgorie (6 in total): 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-2 pointsCategory 1 climbs (10): 10-8-6-4-2-1 pointsCategory 2 (11): 5-3-2-1 pointsCategory 3 (19): 2-1 pointsCategory 4 (21): 1 pointIts the same system as last year. The old scale where the final HC climb got double points is gone and only La Bonette has double points.One difference this year is the Galibier comes on Stage 4, an HC climb where the GC riders are likely to be riding hard. A climber or punchy rider can try and take points on the second and third category climbs. But we wont see a 2022-like scenario where Magnus Cort held the jersey for eight stages with just 11 points.There are two suggested routes to the polka dot jersey. One is accidental where the GC contenders pick it up by virtue of being on the attack in the mountains without really making it a priority, weve seen Tadej Pogaar and Jonas Vingegaard win the competition this way, typically winning a mountain stage late in the third week to take over the lead.However the new points system means theres less weight given to stage finishes. Giulio Ciccone showed this second route last year after he won the competition thanks to several raids, pipping Felix Gall who collected beaucoup points at the Col de la Loze and tried to get more but the Italian was more incisive.Giulio Ciccone is an obvious contender again. At his best he can hang with the stars in the mountains and has a searing sprint, hes even got the better of Primo Rogli. Yet hes also erratic and so all the better suited to stage hunting and the mountains competition.Pello Bilbao climbs well and is punchy for a sprint to the top of a mountain but hes never won a mountains competition in any race. Nor has Bahrain team mate Wout Poels although he was runner-up in this competition in 2021; todays points system suits more.Felix Gall (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) is here for GC but le maillot pois could be un plan B if need be and hes an excellent climber with his dainty high cadence style but he might have to strike out from afar on the climbs rather than sprint for the last 100 metres.Fourth overall last was a result for Simon Yates (Jayco) but he wasnt exactly blinded by the limelight. Having avoided relegation the team dont have a pressing need for UCI points this season so a stage win or some podium time with the polka dots could suit as well. Hes leaving the team and his contract is sorted so he can sort of do as he pleases with the sort of freedom he probably wont have again at Visma-LAB, his reported destination.Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich) won in 2019 but it didnt seem a joyous result, more a salvage operation after his GC ambitions ended but an impressive turnaround. Hes now here for breakaways and freedom so well see for the polka dot jersey in his last Tour. Team mates Warren Barguil, the 2017 winner, and debutant Oscar Onley could feature too.Groupama-FDJ are having a rough season and Lenny Martinez starting the Tour is proof. He was due to do the Vuelta but plans have been revised as they need results and visibility. Since hes leaving the team theres no point having a take it as it goes, learn what you can Tour. Form is the concern as he was turning stale in the Tour de Suisse so will he be fresh come the third week and the big climbs? He is an exciting rider and if he doesnt win this year perhaps hes bound to win at some point like his grandfather Mariano. David Gaudu can also be suited to this competition as hes punchy and has good race craft but a discreet Dauphin and determination to aim for GC means hes less of an obvious pick at the outset.Neilson Powless (EF Education-Easypost) had a good run at the jersey last year but his problem is the same again, hes great in the mid-mountains but how to score big when it comes to the Galibier, Tourmalet or La Bonette? Richard Carapaz can take over instead while Ben Healy is strong but in a linear way, he just charges for the finish line rather than sniping points.Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) is due a result but the highest mountains are his challenge. Likewise Stephen Williams (IPT) who is a punchy climber as we saw in this years Flche Wallonne but hes been excelling on shorter climbs, can he handle a longer effort? The other question is whether hes retained to help Derek Gee. Second on the Grand Colombier last year Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) is another rider who packs a punch but can he do it in the high mountains?Well come to Ineos for the GC picks but can they go for this competition? It almost seems contrary to their style of towing the peloton. To some extent theyll want to shepherd Carlos Rodriguez to a high GC position but can a rider be spared for breakaways? Tom Pidcock might find this fun.Who won the Vueltas mountains competition? Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) but only after his GC plans imploded. He wont even want to think about it now but if he cant hang with the top contenders in the mountains then he could have kind of reset and change his goals for breakaways, stage wins and the polka dots. All this getting a bit conditional, that if X happens then Y is an option but thats the point: its often the nature of the competition so including Evenepoel this way helps to illustrate the point.Tadej Pogaar (UAE) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) get mentions of course. They central case is that as GC contenders they stand collect the jersey on the way to something bigger; but theres also the consolation angle where if one is sapped from the Giro or the other is short of form then stage wins and the mountains competition can help. Hopefully they are both sizzling and an open question is what will happen in the third week, will the GC hierarchy be established or contested? If its the latter we can see the GC contenders and their teams going all in and the likes of UAE, Visma, Bora and Ineos riding down the breakaways making things much harder for Ciccone et al.The post Polka Dot Jersey Contenders first appeared on The Inner Ring.