It was in 1919, during the 11th edition of the Tour de France, that Henri Desgrange, founder of the cycling race and director of that year’s edition, created the legendary “Yellow Jersey”. It featured the colours of the L’Auto newspaper, the main sponsor of the race at the time. From then on, the jersey would be worn by the race’s “general classification” leader, making them easily recognizable to other riders.

The Yellow Jersey was awarded for the first time on July 19th, during the competition, and quickly became highly sought after by riders and a main feature of the race.

In July, the sun beat down on the crowds that had been standing on the sides of the road for hours. The first race vehicles led the way and the crowd buzzed with excitement, until finally the racers were visible in the distance, and everyone was looking for the one and only “yellow jersey”.

2019 will mark 100 years since the creation of this legendary cycling jersey! A dream of cyclists everywhere, a key part of the Tour’s history, and a symbol of success and achievement, it has the respect and admiration of every rider who has worn it. Eddy Merckx, the undisputed champion of bicycle racing, still holds the record, having worn the Yellow Jersey 111 times throughout his career.

Here’s a list of the many Belgian cyclists that have proudly worn the Yellow Jersey!

(These figures show the number of times the jersey was worn, not the number of days.)

* Jean Rossius: Though he was a leader that year, he didn’t wear the Yellow Jersey, as it was created during the race.

Useful information:

• The yellow jersey was introduced to the Tour de France in 1919.
• Up until this day, 25 cyclists who’ve worn the Yellow Yersey are still amongst us.
• From 1919 until 16/07/2019, the Yellow Jersey was worn 403 times by a Belgian cyclist (for a total of 57 different cyclists)
• The Tour the France has been won 18 times by a Belgian.

Here’s a list of the winners: