<P> The two possibilities have been promoted equally but the idea of matching the colour of Desgrange's newspaper seems more probable because Desgrange wrote: "This morning I gave the valiant Christophe a superb yellow jersey . You already know that our director decided that the man leading the race (de tête du classement général) should wear a jersey in the colours of L'Auto . The battle to wear this jersey is going to be passionate ." </P> <P> Christophe disliked wearing it, anyway, and complained that spectators imitated canaries whenever he passed . It was a habit encouraged by his nickname of Cri - Cri (from "Christophe") which is French babytalk for a bird . Christophe remembered riders and spectators teasing: "Ah, the yellow jersey! Isn't he beautiful, the canary? What are you doing, Madame Cri - Cri", adding, "And that lasted the whole course ." </P> <P> There was no formal presentation when Christophe wore his first yellow jersey in Grenoble, from where the race left at 2am for the 325 km to Geneva . He was given it the night before and tried it on later in his hotel . </P> <P> In the next Tour de France in 1920, the yellow jersey was initially not awarded, but after the ninth stage, it was introduced again . </P>

Why is it a yellow jersey for tour de france