{"id":63913,"date":"2024-06-07T15:14:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T13:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=63913"},"modified":"2024-06-07T17:55:27","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T15:55:27","slug":"yellow-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/2024\/06\/07\/yellow-jersey\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
ICONS OF CYCLING<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Yellow jersey<\/h2>\n\n

Sport\u2019s most iconic item of clothing has a unique power, for good and ill <\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

No garment in professional sport emits a power like the yellow jersey, or maillot jaune, <\/em>of the Tour de France. Since 1919, it\u2019s been awarded daily to the rider leading the race and as the ultimate prize to the winner of the general classification come the race\u2019s denouement. <\/p>\n\n

Highly prized by those chasing it, those who do can be both inspired by it and end up in thrall to it, like the Lord of the Rings\u2019 <\/em>eponymous treasure. Julian Alaphilippe in 2019, for example, was empowered by it, wearing it for 11 stages in a row and coming close to an unlikely overall win in Paris. The stage 13 time trial in Pau was a prime example of how much of a driving force the jersey can be, powering a decent if hitherto unspectacular time triallist to victory over rivals, such as Geraint Thomas, with far greater pedigree in the discipline. On the contrary, in 2011 Thomas Voeckler, says Cyrille Guimard in Peter Cossins 2019 book The Yellow Jersey, <\/em>\u201crode tactically in the opposite way to how he should\u201d, and ended up losing the jersey prematurely. <\/p>\n\n

Whether you capture the jersey early on and wear it all the way to the finish (no one rider has ever worn it for the entire race), wear it for a single day and everything in between, the jersey will have a profound effect on a career. It may well go down as the biggest prize they win as a professional, adding Euros onto their next contract or enabling a bumper move elsewhere. <\/p>\n\n

Two hundred and twenty seven riders in the Tour\u2019s 121-year history have worn it for at least one day, from Tom Simpson (Britain\u2019s first yellow jersey) during a single stage in 1962, through to \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 Eddy Merckx with 96 stages. Fabian Cancellara holds the record for the most yellow jersey days without ever winning the race overall \u2013 29 \u2013 which puts him 12th on the all-time list. <\/p>\n\n

Cancellara, a well-known patron, or leader, of the peloton, didn\u2019t need the jersey to hold outsized influence in the peloton, but for most others, it exudes a presence that isn\u2019t afforded elsewhere. That said, when the race is on, even the person in the yellow jersey has their work cut out. The jersey also brings added stress and inconvenience, from the extra media commitments that the race leader must do, and from the knowledge that, despite the reverence, there is a target on your back. At the end of the day, it\u2019s the jersey that holds the power, not the rider. <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Words <\/strong>John Whitney, Rob Ainsley Main image<\/strong> Getty images \/ Bryn Lennon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sport\u2019s most iconic item of clothing has a unique power, for good and ill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":64443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"17","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"17","purple_seq_number":"2","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"2","purple_source_article":"article_17-2.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_17-2.xml","purple_source_issue":"Summer-2024","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"Summer-2024","purple_external_id":"Summer-2024-17-2","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"Summer-2024-17-2","purple_issue_code":"|0000116816||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000116816||","purple_android_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.420","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.420","purple_ios_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.420","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.420","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"d6ad2395-23ab-4326-a10d-940b8b948490","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-06-07T13:18:01Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"f25cb8ca-82fb-435a-8aee-f0ce8dc2d3f7","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-06-07T15:55:28Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A8ly4yoL7Q1qK7vDOjcLT9w","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\""},"categories":[48],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/05\/2a4092a1-a279-4446-a1ca-fcd8fa9d37cc.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/05\/2a4092a1-a279-4446-a1ca-fcd8fa9d37cc.jpg",1470,1328,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/05\/2a4092a1-a279-4446-a1ca-fcd8fa9d37cc-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/05\/2a4092a1-a279-4446-a1ca-fcd8fa9d37cc-300x271.jpg",300,271,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/05\/2a4092a1-a279-4446-a1ca-fcd8fa9d37cc-768x694.jpg",768,694,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/05\/2a4092a1-a279-4446-a1ca-fcd8fa9d37cc-1024x925.jpg",800,723,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/05\/2a4092a1-a279-4446-a1ca-fcd8fa9d37cc.jpg",1470,1328,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/05\/2a4092a1-a279-4446-a1ca-fcd8fa9d37cc.jpg",1470,1328,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Sport\u2019s most iconic item of clothing has a unique power, for good and ill","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63913"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63913"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64994,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63913\/revisions\/64994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}