The winner of the first Tour de France did not wear a yellow jersey, but a green armband. But the origin of the yellow jersey is full of questions. Belgian cyclist Philippe Theis, winner of the 1913, 1914 and 1920 Tour de France, recalled at the age of 67 that organizer Henri Desgrange put on the yellow jersey for him when he won the 1913 Tour de France. Philippe Theis says wearing the yellow jersey will clearly distinguish him from the rest of the field and encourage other riders to pass him.
He said: "I was reluctant to wear the yellow jersey at first. After a few stages, my team manager (Alphonse) Baugé wanted me to give up this idea because of the yellow jersey. It could be used as an advertisement for the company. From this point of view, I had to agree, so the yellow jersey was bought and it fit me perfectly. A big hole to put your head through."
A veteran Tour de France expert called Jacques Filippotheis "a fearless competitor...with a well-known intelligence" and said his comments were "not necessary in any way." Question". But: "No newspaper mentions the yellow jersey before the outbreak of the war. Due to the lack of reliable witnesses, we cannot solve this mystery.
What is actually documented is: the first yellow jersey The shirt was worn by French rider Christopher on July 18, 1919. It was yellow because the founder of the Tour de France, "l'Auto" newspaper, printed it in yellow. But it was not until 1937. The yellow jersey system was officially established in the competition in 1903.
The first event started in Paris at 13:16 on July 1, 1903. At that time, 60 cyclists signed up to participate. The circulation of "Automobile", the organizer of the Tour de France, increased greatly. "Automobile" is the predecessor of the now famous French "Team".
The "Automobile" that founded the Tour de France used yellow at the time. According to the paper, all participants in the first race wore yellow jerseys, but it was not until 1937 that the yellow jersey system was officially established. This is the origin of the yellow jersey worn by the stage champion. Pink cycling jersey, the overall leader in points wears a yellow jersey, the overall points leader wears a green jersey, the rider with the best climbing performance wears a red and white spotted jersey, and the rider with the best performance under 25 years old wears a white collar. Riding jersey.
1919. Eugene Christophe was the first person to wear the yellow jersey. From this year, the yellow jersey appeared in the Tour de France. The reason why the jersey is yellow is that the Automobile Newspaper, which founded the Tour de France, used yellow paper at the time. Participants in the first race wore yellow jerseys, but it was not until 1937 that the yellow jersey system was officially established. /p>
Today, the leader's jersey brings great honor to the wearer, but when it first appeared, the person wearing the leader's jersey was laughed at by the audience. Eugenie Christophe was ridiculed as the "Pretty Canary", but he was a "canary" with an iron will. During the competition in 1913, he was hit by a car and his car forked. It was also broken. As a result, he had to carry the bicycle 17 kilometers to find a repair shop. According to the rules, he had to do it himself, and it took him four hours to weld the fork. The same fate happened in 1919. Things happened again, and Christoph had to work as a car mechanic again. Although he lost his riding jersey, he won the enthusiastic encouragement of many spectators, and the owner of the car repair shop also reserved one for him in the car shop forever. The position of foreman. “You can win people’s hearts even if you have bad luck, but who doesn’t want to win. "Another famous player spoke his mind for Christophe. Two possibilities have been proposed for the origin of the yellow jersey, but the same color as Desgrange's newspaper is more reliable. Because Desgrange once wrote: " This morning I gave the brave Christo a yellow jersey that represents bravery. As you may already know, our organizers have decided to let him lead in today's race. Putting on the yellow jersey will be exciting. ” This is possible evidence of the origin of the yellow jersey.
Christo disliked wearing it and complained that spectators always made a canary-like noise as he passed - Cri- Cri. This is actually the sound of the French bird that the audience imitates as Christo’s nickname.
Cristo heard the rider joking with the crowd: "Ah, yellow jersey! He's pretty, Canary? What are you doing, Mrs. Cri-Cri," and this went on the entire time. "When Christopher first wore the yellow jersey in Grenoble, his details were not formally introduced. He had picked up the jersey the night before and tried it on in his hotel.
After Desgrange's death, his initials were written on the yellow jersey, in its original chest position. Organizers moved his initials to the sleeves in 1969 to facilitate advertising for Virlux advertisers. Another clothing company's advertising logo appears on the bottom zipper of the yellow jersey and is the first clothing supplier for the Tour de France.
The abbreviation of Desgrange's name has been rewritten. The logo was placed on the chest in 1972, some years on the left chest, and some years on the right chest. The logo was removed in 1984 to make way for commercial logos, but was replaced by the Nike logo during the Centenary Tour. The position of Desgrange's initials has been moved to the upper right corner of the shirt.
The original yellow jersey was only available in limited sizes for many years. , many riders find it difficult to fit in, especially when tired or soaked through. There are now yellow jerseys in various sizes to suit different riders, and when the sleeves are removed, they resemble a tight fitting garment.
Since there is no copyright on the yellow jersey, many other races imitate this practice, although not always worn by the best riders: at the Belgian Tour, the yellow jersey is worn by the best riders. Worn by good young riders.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation donated the yellow jersey from Armstrong's fourth Tour de France victory (2002) to a branch of the National Museum of American History. In the first few editions of the Tour de France, the total time was measured in minutes, although the gap between riders was usually more than a few minutes, but there were still several players with the same total time before 1913. There have been two leaders, Philippe Theis and Rossius. After the 1919 Tour de France, this happened twice. There were even three riders who arrived in Bordeaux at the same time in the race. Luxembourg's Nicolas Fang and Frenchmen Victor Font and Andre Leducq all rode in yellow, although all three did not win in Paris in 1931. It happened a second time, when both Charles Pélissier and Rafaele di Paco were in the lead at the same time.
The problem was eventually resolved and only the winner of the day was awarded in the 1967 race. A stopwatch was introduced, and the race time of the players was measured in seconds. The players who were supposed to wear the yellow jersey on the second day had to do without the yellow jersey the next day due to the damage caused by the player wearing the yellow jersey the day before.
In 1950, the leader Ferdi Kubler of Switzerland wore his own clothes instead of the yellow jersey that the leader should wear. This was because the leader of yesterday Fiorenze Magni abandoned the match midway due to verbal threats from the crowd.
Eddy Merckx refused to wear the yellow jersey in 1971 because the previous wearer, Luis Ocaña, broke the jersey after falling from the Pyrenees.
Dutchman Zoetemelk did not wear the yellow jersey in 1980 because his opponent, Bernard Hinault, retired due to a knee injury.
In 1991, Greg Lemond did not wear the yellow jersey after a fall from Denmark's Rolf Sørensen.
In 2005, Armstrong refused to wear the yellow jersey because the previous owner, David Zabriskie, retired due to a fall, but after wearing it again, the race organizers asked On request.