{"id":39968,"date":"2020-04-23T05:25:22","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T05:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/luciellong.com\/the-100th-anniversary-of-the-yellow-jersey-tour-de-france-2019\/"},"modified":"2023-12-30T18:14:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T18:14:51","slug":"100th-anniversary-yellow-jersey-tour-de-france-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/luciellong.com\/en\/100th-anniversary-yellow-jersey-tour-de-france-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"2019: the 100th birthday of the yellow jersey – Stories and anecdotes from the Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tI have always struggled to achieve excellence. One thing that cycling has taught me is that if you can achieve something without a struggle it\u2019s not going to be satisfying.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGreg LeMond, triple winner of the Tour de France (1986, 1989,1990)<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The history of the Yellow Jersey is deeply intertwined with that of the Tour de France, a major cycling race whose origins date back to 1903. At that time, sports were emerging as a recreational activity, and specialized press was developing, driven by the growth of collegiate and associative sports across the Channel, as well as the visionary ideas of modern Olympic Games and sports in schools by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, followed by the Paris Games in 1900, brought unexpected visibility to sports and cycling (seen as a means of transportation). Popular and recent sports like tennis, inspired by the game of “paume,” and cycling joined forces with ancient disciplines such as athletics and wrestling to establish the foundations of the modern Olympic Games.<\/p>

While sports in the early 20th century were initially accessible to a wealthy and educated elite, they quickly became democratized. The first multi-sport clubs were established in the late 19th century (such as Le Havre Football Club in 1872, Girondins de Bordeaux in 1881, Stade Fran\u00e7ais in 1883, Racing Club de France in 1882, etc.), and through their experiences and societal influence, they laid the solid groundwork for nonprofit organisations under the 1901 law that are still in effect today.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Politics, a cycling event and 35,000 more readers<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In a France torn apart by the Dreyfus Affair, the foundations of the Tour de France were laid by Henri Desgranges, a former cyclist and the director of the newspaper “L’Auto.” Deeply anti-Dreyfusard, he aimed to boost the sales of his daily newspaper and weaken his Dreyfusard rival, Pierre Giffard, who led “Le V\u00e9lo.” Unbeknownst to him, and under the guise of political and commercial opposition, he had just created a major sporting competition in the history of sports.<\/p>

The first Tour de France was a resounding popular success, with sales of “L’Auto” soaring and leaving its rival in dire straits. The race was titanic, covering nearly 2,500 kilometers in 6 stages, connecting the greatest cities of France, including:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Stage 1<\/strong>: Paris – Lyon – 467 km <\/p>\n

Stage 2 :<\/strong> Lyon – Marseille – 374 km <\/p>\n

Stage 3 :<\/strong> Marseille – Toulouse – 423 km<\/p>\n

Stage 4 :<\/strong> Toulouse – Bordeaux – 268 km<\/p>\n

Stage 5 :<\/strong> Bordeaux – Nantes – 394 km<\/p>\n

Stage 6 :<\/strong> Nantes – Paris – 471 km<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Due to the media success of this first Tour de France, Henri Desgranges decided to continue the event. Gradually, the Tour started to climb to higher altitudes, traversing the Alpine and Pyrenean roads, until it abruptly came to a halt with the outbreak of World War I in 1914.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1903 Tour de France<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The article of L’auto – 1st July 1903 in PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tThe history of the <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t1st yellow jersey<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Traumatized by the horrors and the staggering number of casualties of the Great War, France was attempting to rebuild itself, and this 13th Tour de France, held in a country still devastated and wounded, contributed to bringing a smile back to the French people. The race was highly contested, and an idea emerged to easily identify the race leader: to award them a yellow jersey at each stage, the color of the pages of the organizing newspaper, L’Auto.<\/p>

Issue number 6812 of L’Auto, sold on Saturday, July 19, 2019, laid out the framework for the Auto’s jersey, which would become the yellow jersey. In the 11th stage of this Tour, held in Grenoble, Eug\u00e8ne Christophe, the leader in the general classification, was presented with a yellow jersey. He became the first cyclist to wear this distinctive jersey, which has now become legendary. One hundred years later, thousands of cyclists have competed and suffered to wear it and cross the finish line with yellow on their shoulders. The Tour has often been tarnished by scandals, but nothing has been able to dampen the popular enthusiasm it inspires.<\/p>

During that time, the Tour stood out from other cycling competitions due to its grandeur and the difficulty of its stages.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Eug\u00e8ne Christophe,<\/strong> first wearer of the yellow jersey,<\/p>

mentioned in the newspaper L’Auto on July 19, 1919<\/p>

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