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The Yellow jersey (French: Maillot jaune pronounced [majo ʒoːn]) is the jersey worn by the leader of many multi-stage bicycle races, originally and most notably the Tour de France. It allows the rider who was in the overall lead at the end of the previous day to be easily identified.

Contents 1 How it's won 2 Origin 3 History 4 Three riders in yellow 5 No riders in yellow 6 Scandal in yellow 7 The man who refused the maillot jaune 8 "Elegance in yellow" 9 Sponsorship 10 See also 11 References 12 External link

Multi-day bicycle races, known as Tours from the French word for a "circuit", are decided by totalling the time each rider takes on the daily stages. From or to this total can be added bonuses or penalties, for winning individual stages or being first to top a mountain or for breaking the rules. The rider with the lowest time starts the Tour de France each day in a yellow jersey.

The winner of the first Tour de France wore not a yellow jersey but a green armband.^[1] There is doubt over when the yellow jersey began. The Belgian rider Philippe Thys, who won the Tour in 1913, 1914 and 1920, recalled in "Champions et Vedettes" when he was 67 that he was awarded a yellow jersey in 1913 when the organiser, Henri Desgrange, asked him to wear a coloured jersey. Thys declined, saying making himself more visible in yellow would encourage other riders to ride against him. ^{[2] [3]}

He said:

"He then made his argument from another direction. Several stages later, it was my team manager at Peugeot, the unforgettable Baugé, who urged me to give in. The yellow jersey would be an advertisement for the company and, that being the argument, I was obliged to concede. So a yellow jersey was bought in the first shop we came to. It was just the right size, although we had to cut a slightly larger hole for my head to go through." ^{[4] [5]}

He spoke of the next year's race, when "I won the first stage and was beaten by a tyre by Bossus in the second. On the following stage, the maillot jaune passed to Georget after a crash."

The Tour historian Jacques Augendre called Thys "a valorous rider... well-known for his intelligence" and said his claim "seems free from all suspicion". But: "No newspaper mentions a yellow jersey before the war. Being at a loss for witnesses, we can't solve this enigma." ^[6]

The formal history, therefore, is that the first yellow jersey was worn by the Frenchman Eugène Christophe in the stage from Grenoble to Geneva on 18 July, 1919. ^[7] The colour was chosen either to reflect the yellow newsprint of the organising newspaper, L'Auto, or because yellow was an unpopular colour and therefore the only one available with which a manufacturer could create jerseys at late notice.^[8]

The two possibilities have been promoted equally but the idea of matching the colour of Desgrange's newspaper seems more probable because Desgrange wrote: "This morning I gave the valiant Christophe a superb yellow jersey. You already know that our director decided that the man leading the race [de tête du classement général] should wear a jersey in the colours of L'Auto. The battle to wear this jersey is going to be passionate." ^[9] It is possible, of course, that the availiability of only yellow in sufficient quantities proved a happy chance for L'Auto and that Desgrange was justifying a choice that he had never had to make.

Christophe disliked wearing it, anyway, and complained that spectators imitated canaries whenever he passed. It was a habit encouraged by his nickname of Cri-Cri (from "Christophe") which is French babytalk for a bird.^[10] Christophe remembered riders and spectators teasing: "Ah, the yellow jersey! Isn't he beautiful, the canary? What are you doing, Madame Cri-Cri", adding, "And that lasted the whole course." ^[11]

There was no formal presentation when Christophe wore his first yellow jersey in Grenoble, from where the race left at 2am for the 325km to Geneva. He was given it the night before and tried it on later in his hotel. ^[12]

After Desgrange's death, his stylized initials were added to the yellow jersey ^[13], originally on the chest. They moved in 1969 to the sleeve to make way for a logo advertising Virlux. A further advertisement for the clothing company Nike appeared at the bottom of the zip fastener at the neck, the first supplementary advertisement on the maillot jaune.

Desgrange's initials returned to the front of the jersey in 1972, some years on the left, others on the right. They were removed in 1984 to make way for a commercial logo but reappeared in 2003 as part of the Tour's centenary celebrations. One set of initials is now worn on the upper right chest of the jersey. ^[14]

The original yellow jerseys were of conventional style. Riders had to pull them over their head on the rostrum. For many years the jersey was made in only limited sizes and many riders found it a struggle to pull one on, especially when tired or wet. The presentation jersey is now made with a full-length zip at the back and the rider pulls it on from the front, sliding his hands through the sleeves rather like a strait-jacket. He then receives three further jerseys each day, plus money (referred to as the "rent") for each day he leads the race.

There is no copyright on the yellow jersey and it has been imitated by many other races.

For the first and only time, in 1929, more than one rider wore the maillot jaune on the same day. Three riders had the same time when the race reached Bordeaux. Nicolas Frantz of Luxembourg and the Frenchmen Victor Fontan and André Leducq all rode in yellow, although none held it to the finish in Paris. ^[15]

The problem of joint leaders was resolved by giving the jersey to whichever rider had the best daily finishing places earlier in the race. The introduction of a short time trial at the start of the race in 1967 - the prologue time trial - means riders have since been divided by fractions of seconds recorded in that race. A tie, while possible, is not probable.

Riders who became race leader through the misfortune of others have ridden next day without the yellow jersey.^[16]

Eddy Merckx declined the jersey in 1971 after its previous wearer, Luis Ocaña, crashed on the col de Mente in the Pyrenees.

In 1950, Ferdi Kubler of Switzerland rode in his national jersey rather than yellow when the race leader, Fiorenzi Magni abandoned the race along with the Italian team in protest at threats said to have been made by spectators.

The Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk did not wear the yellow jersey that passed to him in 1980 when his rival, Bernard Hinault retired with a knee injury.

In 1991, Greg Lemond rode without the jersey after a crash eliminated Rolf Sørensen of Denmark.

The yellow jersey on the first day is traditionally worn by the winner of the previous year's race. If the winner does not ride, the jersey is not worn. It is the rider's choice whether to start in yellow. The previous year's winner traditionally has race number "1". In 2007 there was neither a yellow jersey at the start of the race nor a number 1; the previous winner, Floyd Landis of America was found to have taken drugs and the organisers declined to name another winner until Landis' investigation was complete.

In 1947 and in 1968 the winner was established only on the last day and the yellow jersey passed to riders who had never won it during the race. In 1947, Jean Robic took the race with by attacking on the côte de Bonsecours leaving Rouen and in 1968 the Dutchman (Jan Janssen) took the Tour by winning the time trial on the last day.^[17][18].

In 1990, Greg LeMond took the maillot jaune on the penultimate day. In 1989 he took the yellow jersey on the final day but he he had worn it earlier.

In 1978 the Belgian rider Michel Pollentier became race leader after attacking on the Alpe d'Huez. He was disqualified the same day after trying to cheat a drugs test.

In 1988, Pedro Delgado of Spain won the Tour despite a drugs test which showed he had taken a drug which could be used to hide the use of steroids. News of the test was leaked to the press by the former organiser of the Tour, Jacques Goddet ^[19]. Delgado was allowed to continue because the drug, probenicid, was banned by the International Olympic Committee but not by the Union Cycliste Internationale. ^[20]

The 1996winner, Bjarne Riis of Denmark said in 2007 that he had used drugs to win the race. He was disqualified and asked to stay away from that year's Tour. Riis was manager of one of the teams taking part in 2007.

In 2006 the winner, Floyd Landis was disqualified more than a year after the race. Tests showed he had taken drugs in the last days of the race but the results were not ready until after the race ended. The Tour de France removed him from its list of winners but Landis fought for more than a year to overturn the drugs finding.

In 2007, the Danish rider Michael Rasmussen was withdrawn from the race by his team after complaints that he had not made himself available for drugs tests earlier in the year. Rasmussen said he had been in Mexico but there were reports that he had been seen in Italy.

Maurice Garin won the Tour de France before yellow jerseys were awarded but in 1904 he was disqualified as winner after complaints that he and other riders had cheated. The allegations disappeared along with the Tour de France's other archives when they were taken south in 1940 to avoid the German invasion. But a man who as a small boy knew Garin recalled that the old man had admitted catching a train part of the way. ^[21].

The yellow jersey was made for decades, like all other cycling jerseys, from wool. No synthetic fibres existed which had both the warmth and the absorption of wool. Embroidery was expensive and so the only lettering to appear on the jersey was the H.D. of Desgrange's initials. Riders added the name of the team for which they were riding or the professional team for which they normally rode (in the years when the Tour was for national rather than sponsored teams) by attaching a panel of printed cloth to the front of the jersey by pins.

While synthetic material didn't exist in a way to create whole jerseys, synthetic thread or blends were added in 1947, following the arrival of Sofil as a sponsor. Sofil made artificial yarn. ^[22] Riders believed in the pureness of wool, and especially the Frenchman Louison Bobet, or Louis Bobet as he was still known.

Bobet insisted that cyclists needed wool for their long days of sweating in the heat and dust. It was a matter of hygiene. Artificial fabrics made riders sweat too much. And, in his first Tour de France, he refused to wear the jersey with which he had been presented.

Goddet recalled:

"It produced a real drama. Our contract with Sofil was crumbling away. If the news had got out, the commercial effect would have been disastrous for the manufacturer. I remember debating it with him a good part of the night. Louison was always exquisitely courteous but his principles were as hard as the granite blocks of his native Brittany coast." ^[23]

No compromise was possible. Goddet had to get Sofil to produce another jersey overnight, its logo still visible but artificial fabric absent.

For the veteran writer and television broadcaster Jean-Paul Ollivier, the woollen yellow jersey...

"...gave the riders a rare elegance, even if the way it caught the air left something to be desired. In wool, then in Rovyl - a material used for making underwear - it entered into legend for the quality of those who wore it. Those were the years of national teams. In 1930 Henri Desgrange, the organiser, decided that commercially-sponsored teams were contriving to spoil his race and opted instead for teams representing countries. The Tour de France stayed that way until 1962, when it reverted to commercial teams with the exception of 1967 and 1968 and the riders knotted on their jerseys a spare tyre [across the shoulders] A narrow slip of white cotton placed on the chest showed discreetly the name of the sponsor outside the Tour: La Perle, Mercier, Helyett..."^[24]

The advent of printing by flocking, a process in which cotton fluff is sprayed on to stencilled glue, and then of screen printing, combined with the domination of synthetic materials to increase the advertising on jerseys: the domination which Ollivier regrets. "All sorts of fantasies such as fluorescent jerseys or shorts," he said.^[25] Such was the quantity of advertising when Bernard Thévenet accepted the yellow jersey when the Tour finished for the first time on the Champs Elysées in 1975 that the French sports minister counted all the logos and protested to broadcasters. Since then the number of people with access to the podium has been restricted. ^[26]

The French bank, Crédit Lyonnais, has sponsored the maillot jaune for 25 years. It awards a toy lion - le lion en peluche - to each day's winner as a play on its name. In 2007, sponsorship of the jersey was credited to LCL, the new name for Crédit Lyonnais following its takeover by another bank, Crédit Agricole.

• Detailed list of Tour de France winners
• Maillot jaune statistics

• Velo News: "The legend of the maillot jaune"

Tour de France v • d • e

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v • d • e Tour de France Maillot jaune (Yellow jersey) winners

1903 Maurice Garin · 1904 Henri Cornet · 1905 Louis Trousselier · 1906 René Pottier · 1907-1908 Lucien Petit-Breton · 1909 François Faber · 1910 Octave Lapize · 1911 Gustave Garrigou · 1912 Odile Defraye · 1913-1914 Philippe Thys · 1915-1918 World War I · 1919 Firmin Lambot · 1920 Philippe Thys · 1921 Léon Scieur · 1922 Firmin Lambot · 1923 Henri Pélissier · 1924-1925 Ottavio Bottecchia · 1926 Lucien Buysse · 1927-1928 Nicolas Frantz · 1929 Maurice De Waele · 1930 André Leducq · 1931 Antonin Magne · 1932 André Leducq · 1933 Georges Speicher · 1934 Antonin Magne · 1935 Romain Maes · 1936 Sylvère Maes · 1937 Roger Lapébie · 1938 Gino Bartali · 1939 Sylvère Maes · 1940-1946 World War II · 1947 Jean Robic · 1948 Gino Bartali · 1949 Fausto Coppi · 1950 Ferdinand Kübler · 1951 Hugo Koblet · 1952 Fausto Coppi · 1953-1955 Louison Bobet · 1956 Roger Walkowiak · 1957 Jacques Anquetil · 1958 Charly Gaul · 1959 Federico Bahamontes · 1960 Gastone Nencini · 1961-1964 Jacques Anquetil · 1965 Felice Gimondi · 1966 Lucien Aimar · 1967 Roger Pingeon · 1968 Jan Janssen · 1969-1972 Eddy Merckx · 1973 Luis Ocaña · 1974 Eddy Merckx · 1975 Bernard Thévenet · 1976 Lucien Van Impe · 1977 Bernard Thévenet · 1978-1979 Bernard Hinault · 1980 Joop Zoetemelk · 1981-1982 Bernard Hinault · 1983-1984 Laurent Fignon · 1985 Bernard Hinault · 1986 Greg LeMond · 1987 Stephen Roche · 1988 Pedro Delgado · 1989-1990 Greg LeMond · 1991-1995 Miguel Indurain · 1996 Bjarne Riis · 1997 Jan Ullrich · 1998 Marco Pantani · 1999-2005 Lance Armstrong · 2006 Óscar Pereiro · 2007 Alberto Contador