Legends of the Tour : Hauts-de-France in yellow

The Hauts-de-France region has won the Tour twice, in 1903 and 1904, but it wasn't until 1922 that a regional rider won the colorful tunic. In fact, the yellow jersey was only introduced in 1919, to better distinguish the overall leader. And it was Jean Alavoine who had the honor of wearing the first yellow jersey in the history of Hauts-de-France. A native of Roubaix, he wore it for 5 stages, defending it body and soul in the Pyrenees. He passed the torch to Amédée Fournier, who had the honor of wearing it on the second stage of the Tour in 1939.

Yellow jersey worn by Cédric Vasseur. ©A.S.O./Maxime Delobel

The 2nd half of the 20th century as a golden age

It would be another 34 years before a local rider would once again don the coveted jersey. And it was José Catieau who wore the yellow jersey again, for 4 days, during the 1973 Tour de France. He would only relinquish it to his team-mate, a certain Luis Ocaña, who went on to win the overall classification. A decade later, the torch was taken up by Martial Gayant in 1987. The boy from Chauny, Aisne, also "borrowed" the yellow jersey from his team leader, Charly Mottet, for two days, after a fine solo victory. The end of the 90s marked the last appearance of a rider from Hauts-de-France in yellow. In 1997, it was Cédric Vasseur who claimed the prestigious tunic for 5 days, after a great solo daredevil performance. The current general manager of the Cofidis team was succeeded a year later by a Cofidis rider, Laurent Desbiens. He inherited the sun-colored outfit for two days, after a successful breakaway. The native of Mons-en-Barœul was one of the last to wear the yellow jersey. So what better way to motivate our riders than with a Grand Départ in the region? We can count on Arnaud Démarre and Florian Sénéchal to once again make the region stand out on the Tour's roads!

Laurent Desbiens posing with his yellow jersey. ©La Voix du Nord