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Monday, July 13, 2009

Story of the Tour's "yellow jersey" / "maillot jaune"

The all-famous "yellow jersey" or in its native French language the "maillot jaune" denotes the leader of the race per stage and is won overall by the winner at the end of all the stages. It was dubbed as such as it was first given to Frenchman Eugène Christophe by race founder Henri Desgrange. Henri thought up the idea and then announced it during stage 7 on July 10, 1919. The "maillot jaune" was not presented to Christophe until one week later at the start of stage 11. This was the first tour since WWI which had brought the race to a 5 year halt. Henri Desgrange was also the owner and editor of the sport's paper, L'Auto. The color yellow was chosen because Desgrange's paper was also yellow in background.
As always, everyone is in anticipation of whom will wear the "yellow jersey". Yes, who will continue to wear it through-out the remaining 13 stages. We know that the Italian, Rinaldo Nocentini, will start off tomorrow's stage 10 wearing it, but will he be able to keep it by withstanding sure fire chases by other rival teams? Will his squad stand behind him as well to ensure the "yellow jersey" stays within their team? As the Tour returns to the flatlands it is common knowledge that teams such as Astana & Columbia-HTC are sure to be in cahoots within their respective teams to snatch it away.

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