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The Yellow Jersey
In 2019, the cycling world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of sport's most iconic and distinguished prize: the Yellow Jersey. Beautifully produced and packed full of interviews with riders such as Chris Froome, Thomas Voeckler and the oldest living wearer of the Yellow Jersey at 94, Antonin Rolland, The Yellow Jersey is a fitting celebration of the 'maillot jaune'.
In 1919 the leading rider was first instructed to wear the Yellow Jersey, following a campaign from fans and journalists who were struggling to to identify the winning rider. 100 years on, the jersey has passed into almost sacred status. You'll never see an amateur rider wearing yellow - it is reserved purely for those who have sacrificed themselves in the world's greatest race.
Cossins will take the reader on a journey to the origins of the jersey and its early winners. He'll explore the effect of wearing yellow as a motivator and occasionally as a curse. Beautifully produced with original photography, The Yellow Jersey is an exquisite tribute to the greatest trophy in sport.
In 1919 the leading rider was first instructed to wear the Yellow Jersey, following a campaign from fans and journalists who were struggling to to identify the winning rider. 100 years on, the jersey has passed into almost sacred status. You'll never see an amateur rider wearing yellow - it is reserved purely for those who have sacrificed themselves in the world's greatest race.
Cossins will take the reader on a journey to the origins of the jersey and its early winners. He'll explore the effect of wearing yellow as a motivator and occasionally as a curse. Beautifully produced with original photography, The Yellow Jersey is an exquisite tribute to the greatest trophy in sport.
- GenresCyclingNonfictionSports
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 27, 2019
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65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 10, 2021
This is part coffee table book, part collection of essays, and was a better read than I had expected. Cossins appears to have drawn on interviews he has conducted himself as well as consulting other books in order to tell the story of the yellow jersey, accompanied by some great photographs.
I would never have dreamed of paying the cover price as there isn't enough content, although it is nicely presented with plates for better images. The proofing was poor though, as I noticed quite a few mistakes, both typos and grammar, and for a more gifty book this wasn't great. There are about 11 chapters which are essays of reasonable length, covering the jersey itself, as well as the racing and racers that competed for it. These would have been good magazine features but were not so short that you could 'just dip into' them as with books of a similar presentation.
These were serious essays without much of the myth/legend/nonsense that can accompany winners, although the subjects had been covered before, so his personal interviews were needed to make it worth reading for all but the most casual cycling fan. The women's Tour was also covered moralistically, and if one person had lots of interest from sponsors the obvious question is why didn't she create her own stage race with all the money that companies were willing to spend - I suspect, as the organisers found, it is much easier to solicit interest when the money is hypothetical. While I am sure sexism does exist in cycling, I doubt that senior figures in the organising company are so misogynistic that they would turn down a profitable race because it's for women. Orla Chennaoui seemed the most balanced contributor to that essay, and to be fair to Cossins, he covered both sides of the argument, just as he was honest about how reliable the early stories surrounding the jersey were (not very).
But while it looked good it wasn't filled with photos, and while the book itself is weighty I doubt the text would fill more than 150 pages of a standard paperback. It has the content of a decent magazine at about 4 times the price but it was still a short, pleasant read.
I would never have dreamed of paying the cover price as there isn't enough content, although it is nicely presented with plates for better images. The proofing was poor though, as I noticed quite a few mistakes, both typos and grammar, and for a more gifty book this wasn't great. There are about 11 chapters which are essays of reasonable length, covering the jersey itself, as well as the racing and racers that competed for it. These would have been good magazine features but were not so short that you could 'just dip into' them as with books of a similar presentation.
These were serious essays without much of the myth/legend/nonsense that can accompany winners, although the subjects had been covered before, so his personal interviews were needed to make it worth reading for all but the most casual cycling fan. The women's Tour was also covered moralistically, and if one person had lots of interest from sponsors the obvious question is why didn't she create her own stage race with all the money that companies were willing to spend - I suspect, as the organisers found, it is much easier to solicit interest when the money is hypothetical. While I am sure sexism does exist in cycling, I doubt that senior figures in the organising company are so misogynistic that they would turn down a profitable race because it's for women. Orla Chennaoui seemed the most balanced contributor to that essay, and to be fair to Cossins, he covered both sides of the argument, just as he was honest about how reliable the early stories surrounding the jersey were (not very).
But while it looked good it wasn't filled with photos, and while the book itself is weighty I doubt the text would fill more than 150 pages of a standard paperback. It has the content of a decent magazine at about 4 times the price but it was still a short, pleasant read.
January 25, 2021
A fun and easy to read book filled with numerous stories which keep things interesting. Also has just the right amount of commentary from different perspectives — politics, business and problems the tour faces. Makes for a nice wholesome read.
Great for someone looking to whet their appetite for the Tour de France.
Great for someone looking to whet their appetite for the Tour de France.
December 6, 2020
Very interesting book, as covers most info that people would need to know. Only 'issue' I had is that when referring to women's tour de france or lack of it, there's no mention of how successful the women's tour of Britain is even though there is a picture of it.
July 29, 2021
A gorgeously put together book, a designer’s dream. But slightly marred by too many typos in the text, sadly. Still, a wonderful book overall and the history of the yellow jersey makes for a great read.
June 23, 2024
Interesting read from the start of the tour and how the jersey came about. Cool stories from around the First World War. Middle of the book wasn’t too enthralling and the stories are around the 50’s - 70’s. Last chapter okay. Overall a bit of a slog but fun to read before the 2024 Tour!
July 6, 2024
The order of the chapters and content within is somewhat confusing, jumps around a lot chronologically.
The content and writing is great though.
The content and writing is great though.
December 1, 2020
Great book. If you’re a fan of the sport of road cycling then this will delight. Good articles (?) and stylishly presented. Only negative is the grammatical errors - I got past it....
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews