If the Tour de France was a Broadway production, it would win the Tony Award for best use of color in costumes – and maybe best special effects. The colors that accompany the whirring peloton take the mind into a virtual artist studio of water colors, oils and simple charcoals (see Cervelo Test Team). Roadside sunflowers always win one or two days of our attention during certain stages of the three-week sporting odyssey. But it’s the team kits, the team cars, the helmets and hats that color the race special. July is when cycling fans are at their happiest, when allez and maillot jaune re-enter our lexicon. Our co-workers think us mad for following grown men on bicycles who hold flowers and a stuffed lion for the press gallery after receiving kisses from podium girls. But watch we must. How can a non-cyclist begin to know the joy of life on two wheels? July is when yellow shines brightest. It’s when orange and blue argyle, Kazakhstan-inspired turquoise, and even a French shade of UPS brown (yes, the new AG2R Mondiale kits) compete for our eyes and the promise of a stage win. Only one rider gets to wear the Mellow Johnny, leaving room for a Technicolor Lycra display unlike any in professional sport. It’s why summer colors are the Tuesday Crave.
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