 The prize for wearing the yellow jersey was introduced in 1948, sponsored by Les Laines, a French wool company.In 1947, the media had complained that too many cyclists reached the end of the race, so the race was no longer heroic; this may have motivated a new rule between the third and the eighteenth stage, the rider last in the general classification was eliminated; Where as the 1947 Tour de France had been France-centred, the 1948 race became a more cosmopolitan race.The Tour visited the Saar protectorate for the first time when the 18th stage passed Saarbrücken and Saarlouis.