The China Mail - Oldest surviving Tour de France yellow jersey wearer Marinelli dies at 99

On the eve of the start of the 112th Tour de France in Lille, race director Christian Prudhomme on Friday paid tribute to a rider, nicknamed "the parakeet", who was one of the legends of the race.

"I can still hear my father talking about the Parakeet. He was the oldest of the Tour de France's yellow jerseys. A part of the Tour de France's history is going with him," Prudhomme told AFP.

Aged 23, during the 1949 Tour dominated by cycling greats Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, Marinelli took the yellow jersey on the fourth stage in Rouen which he wore for six days until the Pyrenees.

"I was in good shape, that's all I knew. But I didn't even dream of the yellow jersey," he recalled during an interview with AFP in 2019.

All of France was fascinated by the exploits of the diminutive Marinelli, who stood just 1.60 metres (5ft 3in) and weighed 50 kilos, in contrast to the legendary Italian "heron" Coppi, the eventual winner.

Marinelli finished third in Paris, behind the two Italian champions, and was greeted by a huge crowd in the capital.

"The yellow jersey allowed me to have a tap with running water in my family's house," Marinelli liked to say.

His popularity would serve him well throughout the rest of his life, establishing himself as one of the largest retailers in his region, and becoming mayor of his home town.

G.Tsang--ThChM