The Yellow Jersey Is Yellow Because the Newspaper Was

On 19 July 1919, before the 11th stage of the Tour de France from Grenoble to Geneva, Eugène Christophe of France pulled on a yellow wool jersey and rode out as the first man to wear what would become the most recognized garment in cycling. He had been leading the race for days, but until that morning the leader looked like everyone else.

The race director, Henri Desgrange, had been getting complaints. Spectators couldn't tell who was in front, and the pack of riders, especially after a 1914–18 war that had killed several pre-war Tour stars, didn't have enough name recognition for fans to spot leaders by face. Desgrange wanted a uniform to mark the man on top of the general classification.

He picked yellow because L'Auto, the sports newspaper that ran the Tour and paid for it, was printed on yellow newsprint. The choice was free advertising. Some cycling historians have suggested a more practical reason, that yellow was the only color a manufacturer had enough wool of on short notice — but Desgrange's own writing in L'Auto tied the choice to the paper.

Christophe didn't enjoy the attention. He told reporters spectators imitated canaries whenever he passed, and after wearing yellow for a few stages he lost the lead — and the Tour — to Firmin Lambot when his bike's forks broke and he had to repair them himself. The jersey stuck. L'Auto eventually became L'Équipe, which is white now. The maillot jaune is still yellow.