The story of the Tour de France logo

We know that cycling's a passion for a great many designers, as the volume of bike art out there testifies to, so we're sure that many designers will have at least half an eye on this year's Tour de France – the high point of the cycling calendar.

The Tour has been through a few rebrands since its conception in 1903 (it's run every year since then, except during the two World Wars), and it has even inspired other designs. Here we take a design-focused look at cycling's most prestigious event – starting with the striking Tour de France logo design.

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Jim McCauley

Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.

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