General Classification in The Tour de France - No Riders in Yellow

No Riders in Yellow

Riders who became race leader through the misfortune of others have ridden next day without the yellow jersey.

In 1950, Ferdi Kubler of Switzerland rode in his national jersey rather than yellow when the race leader, Fiorenzo Magni abandoned the race along with the Italian team in protest at threats said to have been made by spectators.

Eddy Merckx declined the jersey in 1971 after its previous wearer, Luis Ocaña, crashed on the col de Mente in the Pyrenees.

The Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk did not wear the yellow jersey that passed to him in 1980 when his rival, Bernard Hinault retired with a knee injury.

In 1991, Greg LeMond rode without the jersey after a crash eliminated Rolf Sørensen of Denmark.

In 2005, Lance Armstrong refused to start in the yellow jersey after the previous owner, David Zabriskie, was eliminated by a crash, but put it on after the neutral zone on request of the race organizers.

The yellow jersey on the first day of the Tour is traditionally permitted to be worn by the winner of the previous year's race; however, wearing it is a choice left to the rider, and in recent years has gone out of fashion. If the winner does not ride, the jersey is not worn. The previous year's winner traditionally has race number "1" (with his teammates given the other single-digit racing numbers), with subsequent sets of numbers determined by the highest classified riders for that team in the previous Tour. The lead riders for a particular team will often wear the first number in the series (11, 21, 31 and so forth), but these riders are not necessarily contenders for the general classification - teams led by sprinters will often designate the maillot vert contender as their lead rider.

In 2007 there was neither a yellow jersey at the start of the race nor a number 1; the previous winner, Floyd Landis of the United States failed a doping control after the race and organisers declined to declare an official winner pending arbitration of the Landis case. On September 20, 2007, Landis was officially stripped of his title following the arbitration court's guilty verdict, and the 2006 title passed to Óscar Pereiro; in 2008, the runner-up in 2007, Cadel Evans was given the race number "1" when the 2007 winner, Alberto Contador was unable to defend his title due to a dispute between the organisers ASO and his new team Astana barring that team from riding the Tour.