Tour organisers ASO revamped the rules for the points classification to greater reward the sprint stage wins – but Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) would not be denied a fourth consecutive victory.

The new rules meant the Slovakian champion had to dig deep for the right to ride into Paris in the green jersey, however, particularly after he missed out on a stage win for the second year running.

Instead, Sagan amassed his points after an astonishing five second-place finishes – in fact he finished inside the top ten on 11 occasions in all.

Having traded the jersey with Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) for a handful of stages, however, it was actually in the medium mountains between the Pyrenees and Alps where Sagan took control of the jersey.

The Slovakian ace was in the break on a number of occasions, to ensure he bagged the intermediate sprint points on offer, which ultimately contributed to his 66-point winning margins.

As the man himself said: “I’ve tried to win stages, but it was not easy. I think I can be satisfied, I have been very aggressive and I have the green jersey”.

Such aggression also earned him the red race numbers for combativity on two occasions and ensured he rode into Paris with the jersey already secured.

Greipel’s four stage wins ensured he finished second, having worn the jersey for seven stages, while Vuelta a Espana points classification John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) was third.

The last man to win the jersey before Sagan’s dominance started was Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep), but the Manx Missile was fourth after bagging a single stage win.

Tour de France 2015: final points classification

1) Peter Sagan (SVK) – Tinkoff-Saxo – 432pts
2) Andre Greipel (GER) – Lotto-Soudal – 366
3) John Degenkolb (GER) – Giant-Alpecin – 298
4) Mark Cavendish (GBR) – Etixx-QuickStep – 206
5) Bryan Coquard (FRA) – Team Europcar – 152
6) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky – 139
7) Thibaut Pinot (FRA) – FDJ – 113
8) Alejandro Valverde (ESP) – Movistar – 103
9) Thomas de Gendt (BEL) – Lotto-Soudal – 90
10) Alexander Kristoff (NOR) – Katusha – 90