team time trials. Stages in the Grand Tours are generally under 200 kilometres in length. UCI rules regarding 'Grand Tours' Grand Tour events have specific rules and criteria as part of Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) regulations. For the UCI World Tour, more points are given in grand tours than in other races; the winner of the Tour de France receives 1000 points, and the winners of the Giro and Vuelta receive 850 points. Depending on the nature of other races, points vary for the winner of the overall classification The grand tours have a special status for the length: they are allowed to last between 15 and 23 days – whereas other stage races are not allowed to last longer than 14 days. Teams Historically, controversy surrounds which teams are invited to the event by the organiser. Typically, the UCI prefers top-rated professional teams to enter, while operators of the Grand Tours often want teams based in their country or those unlikely to cause controversy. Between 2005 and 2007, organisers had to accept all ProTour teams, leaving only two wildcard teams per Tour. However, the Unibet team, a ProTour team normally guaranteed entry, was banned from the three Grand Tours for violating gambling advertising laws. In 2008, following numerous doping scandals, some teams were refused entry to the Grand Tours: Astana did not compete at the 2008 Tour de France and Team Columbia did not compete at the 2008 Vuelta a España. Since 2011, under the UCI World Tour rules, all UCI WorldTeams are guaranteed a place in all three events, and obliged to participate, and the organisers are free to invite wildcard teams of UCI ProContinental status to make up the 22 teams that usually compete. Competitions The main competition is the individual general classification, decided on aggregate time (sometimes after allowance of time bonuses). There are also classifications for teams and young riders, and based on climbing and sprinting points, and other minor competitions. Five riders have won three individual classifications open to all riders (general, mountains, young and points classifications) in the same race: Eddy Merckx in the 1968 Giro d'Italia and 1969 Tour de France and 1973 Vuelta a España, Tony Rominger in the 1993 Vuelta a España, Laurent Jalabert in the 1995 Vuelta a España, Marco Pantani in the 1998 Giro d'Italia, and Tadej Pogačar in the 2020 Tour de France and 2021 Tour de