Hasta La Ideas

With the Tour de France starting in July, Yellow Jersey Press has reissued five classic cycling books with covers referencing some of the most famous colours in the sport…

Designed in-house by Matt Broughton, the series includes broadcaster Ned Boulting’s tale of becoming obsessed by Le Tour, How I Won the Yellow Jumper, and the first British winner Bradley Wiggins’ autobiography, My Time.

Three of the covers reference the colourways of the jerseys awarded to Le Tour cyclists – hence the yellow (worn by the overall time leader) on the aforementioned titles, the bright green of the jersey awarded to the winner of the points competition, and the red and white Maillot à Pois pattern for the ‘King of the Mountains’ – the rider who tops the climbing classification – on Richard Moore’s Slaying the Badger (the ‘Badger’ in question being French cyclist, Bernard Hinault).

The five stripes of the world champion jersey appear on William Fotheringham’s Put Me Back on My Bike, while writer Tim Moore’s retracing of the Tour de France route, French Revolutions, gets a tricolore treatment, complete with up-ended type evocative of the challenge he took on.

All the titles in the series are republished by Yellow Jersey Press (Vintage). More at vintage-books.co.uk.