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What does the yellow jersey represent in the Tour de France?
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Individual Neutral Athlete Gleb Syritsa, a Russian passport holder, cycling past Les Invalides during the men's road cycling individual time trial at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In the Tour de France, the yellow jersey (maillot jaune) is an honor awarded to the cyclist who holds the lowest cumulative time for the race at the end of each day.1
Introduced in 1919, the jersey's color was chosen to match the yellow paper on which the race's sponsoring newspaper, LāAuto, was printed. While winning an individual stage of the race is a significant achievement, it does not guarantee a rider the yellow jersey, as the distinction is strictly based on the best overall time across the entire event. The cyclist who maintains this lead through the final stage is considered the winner of the Tour.12