Book Excerpt: The Yellow Jersey by Peter Cossins

Cover of 'The Yellow Jersey' by Peter Cossins

Cover of 'The Yellow Jersey' by Peter Cossins

Exclusiveness is one of the primary characteristics of the yellow jersey. Among the millions of spectators that line the roadsides at the Tour de France each year, only a handful will be seen in yellow. At the same time, you usually don’t have to travel too far along the Tour route to observe fans and cyclists decked out in polka dots or Peter Sagan green. According to Libération’s Pierre Carrey, ‘It is forbidden to wear the yellow jersey in France, for anyone to ride in it. It belongs to the Tour leader, and him alone. He’s like the Louis XIV, the Sun King, reincarnated in a cycling jersey.’

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Peter Cossins has written about professional cycling since 1993 and is a contributing editor to Procycling. He is the author of The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2014) and has translated Christophe Bassons' autobiography, A Clean Break (Bloomsbury, July 2014). 

twitter.com/petercossins