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How the yellow jersey came to be yellow

Wearing the yellow jersey,  indicates the overall leader in the Tour de France.

Before there was yellow, there was green.

During the race’s first decade, at the dawn of the 20th century, leaders wore a green armband over their cycling outfits.

It didn’t exactly stand out.

“Spectators didn’t know who was in the lead; it wasn’t very interesting to follow,” says VeloNews’ John Wilcockson, a veteran reporter following his 42nd Tour de France.

So in 1913 – or 1919, depending on whom you ask – race founder Henri Desgrange developed a plan to more clearly identify the top rider.

At the time, Desgrange was editor of L’Auto, the newspaper that funded the race, and decided to fashion a jersey to mirror the yellow-colored broadsheet the paper was printed on.

After seeing that it increased the race’s popularity, organizers have added other colored jerseys over the years, including green for sprinters and polka dot for mountain climbers, to make the race more interesting to viewers.

But the yellow jersey continues to be the most coveted.