How I Won the Yellow Jumper: Dispatches from the Tour de France (Yellow Jersey Cycling Classics)

Yellow Jumper is Ned Boulting’s brilliantly frank and frequently hilarious account of how he fell hopelessly in love with the Tour de France — despite starting out with absolutely no idea what he was doing.

Paris, 4 July 2003: Ned’s first Tour. He had never watched a bike race. He barely knew who Lance Armstrong was. Yet there he was, broadcasting live on television, fumbling through clichés before signing off with the immortal line: “Dave Millar just missing out on the Yellow Jumper.” Yes. Jumper.

From that excruciating debut grew an obsession. Over the next eight Tours, Ned found himself stumbling, learning, laughing and slowly — very slowly — beginning to understand the world’s most famous bike race. Along the way he discovered the madness behind the scenes: the logistical chaos, the media circus, the emotional rollercoaster of interviewing riders like Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and Armstrong seconds after they’ve crossed the line, still gasping for air.

This is the story of a man who went from clueless rookie to incurable fanatic, mirroring the journey taken by tens of thousands of cycling enthusiasts. It’s a love letter to the Tour’s beauty and absurdity, its drama and its deep, addictive pull.

Funny, self‑deprecating and packed with insider detail, Yellow Jumper shows how one chaotic summer job turned into a lifelong passion — and how the Tour de France has a habit of capturing your heart when you least expect it.