Like much of cycling lore, the true origin of the Tour de France’s maillot jaune is somewhat murky. As we’ve reported (Bicycling Jul/Aug 2015), it’s generally believed that the jersey took its colour from the yellow paper used by L’Auto, the newspaper that was the Tour’s first primary sponsor. But cycling historians Bill and Carol McGann say this might not be the case.

They suggest that the sunny hue has less to do with providing publicity for the event’s main sponsor, and more to do with keeping operating costs to a minimum. Yellow jerseys were less popular than jerseys of other colours, and were therefore cheaper
to obtain.

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