Gone are the days of very light “flashy” green, hello bottle green. The green jersey for the “best sprinter” in the Tour de France has had a facelift this year. A will of its sponsor, Skoda, after discussions with Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), organizer of the Tour de France. Last September, the Czech car manufacturer changed its logo and its graphic charter.

Skoda France events and sponsorship manager Océane Arnould-Dupuy explained the reasons for this change to Le Parisien: “The new colors are more dynamic and more innovative. We had a green that was a little garish and not really up-to-date. There, we opted for an emerald green and an electric green. “A lighter and more discreet shade is however present on the collar of the shirt and the end of the sleeves.

A desire also to be more pleasing to the eye for everyone: “Electric green is hard to see on television on races contested in the sun, as is often the case for the Tour, notes Océane Arnould-Dupuy . It comes out very clear, almost white. So we decided to put emerald green as the main color. »

This new tunic is not necessarily very popular with everyone. Already seen at Paris-Nice in March and on the Critérium du Dauphiné in June, the green jersey had received many criticisms. On Twitter, a viewer felt they had “killed the green jersey”. Another wrote that, in his opinion, it “wasn’t great and was going to take some getting used to.” Overall, this new version has garnered a lot of negative comments, many not understanding the reasons for this change.

Belgian rider Wout van Aert reacted with humor during the team presentation on Thursday in Bilbao. Why won’t he try to put on the green jersey? “I don’t like the new color,” he replied, before adding more seriously that he and his team, Jumbo-Visma, had other goals.

This is not the first time that a Tour jersey has changed color. Indeed, the distinctive outfit of the leader of the points classification was not the same when PMU sponsored it, until 2014. On the side of Skoda, we are necessarily more enthusiastic: “We are satisfied. The idea was to make an elegant, classier jersey that amateur runners would want to wear for outings. It reflects the move upmarket of our brand, adds the manager of Skoda France. True, it is less visible than the previous one. But it also takes a bit of time for viewers and viewers to get used to it. He’s going to get into the morals. »