Le coq sportif to provide Tour de France jerseys for 2012

Le coq sportif will return as official supplier of sports clothing to the Tour de France and all races sponsored by the Amaury Sports Organisation as of 2012, the company announced on Tuesday. Nike currently supply jerseys at the Tour de France.

The French manufacturer previously supplied team jerseys to the Tour. “For forty years, the most famous riders, from Jacques Anquetil to Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx, pulled on jerseys bearing the le coq sportif logo.”

"Next year, the firm will once again be the Tour's official supplier, and provide the special leaders' jerseys, as “the perfect gift to celebrate the brand's 130th anniversary.”

The firm will also provide the jerseys for the other ASO races, which include the Vuelta a Espana, Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, and the Criterium du Dauphine.

The “new jerseys” for next year's race will be presented at the Tour route presentation in October.

Madame Camuset, of the firm's founding family, noted that the 1951 Tour passed by the factory in Romilly.  “I can quite clearly remember that it was a proud day for the le coq sportif brand, to see the team jerseys hung out above the route. All of the residents of Romilly took to the streets to see the cyclists and also the jerseys which were manufactured by the workers in the le coq sportif plant - who took great pride in their efforts."