{"id":191240,"date":"2022-12-07T19:41:22","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T19:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=191240"},"modified":"2022-12-07T19:41:22","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T19:41:22","slug":"which-grand-tour-trophy-do-you-like-the-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2022\/12\/07\/which-grand-tour-trophy-do-you-like-the-most\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Grand Tour Trophy Do You Like The Most?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you watch the Grand Tours? Who can say no to an epic racing battle and raccoon faces on muddy cobbled roads or dusty gravel sections? Or the images of the peloton buzzing along twisted roads that thread through quaint villages and beautiful rolling landscapes peppered with vineyards and architectural treasures?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The pictures, suspense and entertainment are great, and I believe the trophies are too. But how much do you know about them and which one do you like most? Let\u2019s look at the contenders.<\/p>\n

Tour de France<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Tour de France trophy is called the Coupe Omnisports. It was designed by Roger Vieillard in 1971 after being commissioned by French president Val\u00e9ry Giscard d\u2019Estaing (1974-1981), to renew the official pieces offered by the State. But the idea was to present it to top athletes, and not just Tour winners.<\/p>\n

Prior to 1971, research has not revealed a clear trophy presented to the individual TDF winner, but rather public glory, a financial reward and a yellow jersey. Between 1930-1961, 1967-1968, national teams competed for the team classification trophy called the Challenge International which looks to have served as the inspiration for the Coupe Omnisports. The primary difference being it was forged from metal and not ceramic.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s ceramic Coupe Omnisports is made by the Manufacture National de S\u00e8vres on the banks of the Seine River a few kilometres downstream from Paris proper. They make some of the finest porcelain objects in the world, dating back to 1759 and the reign of Louis XV, and are the official porcelain supplier to the French government to this day. State dinners at the Elys\u00e9e (the presidential residence) are served on fine porcelain S\u00e8vres tableware.<\/p>\n

The exquisite deep blue used to contrast the 24-carat gold hand-painted detail is known as \u201cle bleu de S\u00e8vres\u201d (S\u00e8vres blue). It is proprietary to S\u00e8vres and symbolises the manufactory and France. The winner receives a cup every year, but it wasn\u2019t always this way.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t presented to the winner of the Tour de France until 1975. Why? Theories state it\u2019s because The Grande Boucle finished on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es for the first time that same year. And\/or Bernard Th\u00e9venet defeated Eddy Merckx, ending an eight-year French Tour losing streak and restoring national pride.<\/p>\n

\"Jonas<\/a>
The toy lion is another Tour de France trophy for thej yellow jersey winner.\u00a0\u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The TdF bonus<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Besides the Coupe Omnisport, the jersey winners on the Champs (Yellow, Polka Dot, Green and White) receive a magnificent bonus trophy as a gift from their longtime partner and sponsor, \u0160koda. But they aren\u2019t just trophies, they are works of art<\/a> that reflect the skill, refinement and talent of Czech crystal manufacturing that dates back to the 1670s, and arguably centuries before.<\/p>\n

\u0160koda has been presenting these sublime, original pieces of hand-blown and worked pieces of lead crystal since 2011. A Slovakian designer named Peter Olah is the artist. And the magnificent 60 cm lead crystal vases that weigh 4 kg each represent what cycling is all about, \u201cnature and clean energy\u201d. Every one is produced by the renowned Czech crystal manufacturing master, Lasvit.<\/a><\/p>\n

Giro d\u2019Italia<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Giro is the most important race on the Italian calendar and second only to the Tour de France in Grand Tour standings. For the last 23 years, the Giro winner has received the \u201cTrofeo Senza Fine\u201d or the Endless Trophy. It was commissioned in 1999 through a collaboration between the Gazzetta dello Sport, the famous pink sports newspaper that defines the colour of the Giro leader\u2019s jersey, and the RCS Sport media group which organises the Giro and some of Italy\u2019s other top road cycling competitions such as the Milan-Sanremo and Tirreno-Adriatico.<\/p>\n

A public competition was held, and the winner was an original design from the artist Fabrizio Galli. He presented the elegant continuous spiral that forms the trophy\u2019s hour-glass shape so recognised today. Its architecture represents the roads the peloton takes as it winds through Italy, and the history of the Giro that \u201chas no end\u201d.<\/p>\n

The spiralling tower that looks like an endless ribbon of gold is actually 18-carat gold-plated copper. Copper being the material required to form and hold its complicated shape. It\u2019s made in the Mario Penello workshop in Saletto di Vigodarzere, Italy. The village of Saletto is in the Vigodarzere municipality, within the province of Padova and the Veneto region. Each one takes approximately a month to create.<\/p>\n

A copper bar is made round by a special machine. It then gets polished, heat treated and coiled into its suspended-like, spiral form on something that resembles a primitive torture device before being cut and polished. The ultimate and most delicate step is laser etching the names of previous winners before receiving a final sand blast. A new trophy is presented every year and the winner\u2019s name engraved on the spot by Penello.<\/p>\n

Details on the size and weight of the Coupe Omnisports were hard to track down, but the Giro trophy is close to the height of the beautiful lead crystal vases gifted from \u0160koda, 54 cm tall. But its Giro brethren weighs substantially more, 9.5 kg. Panello also makes the trophies for Milan-Sanremo, Milan-Torino, Strade Bianche at the trident from the Tirreno-Adriatico.<\/p>\n

Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It’s no surprise the trophy awarded to the winner of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a also has noble roots. The Royal Glass Factory of La Granja (La Real F\u00e1brica de Cristales de la Granja) has made the Tour of Spain general classification trophy since 2008. It was established in 1727 by Philip V of Spain and is located a few kilometres outside of Segovia, Spain.<\/p>\n

The trophy has transformed since the first Vuelta in 1935. Until 1999, first prize was a silver cup. Then it became a large crystal plate with a square base as a stand. The round shape was chosen to mimic a bicycle wheel with the names of previous winners making up the spokes. Today, the victor still receives a large lead crystal plate, but one with the red La Vuelta logo in the middle.<\/p>\n

Once the red enamel needed to reproduce the logo is set through a special vitrification process, the spokes of the wheel are created with the names of past winners via a diamond dust blasting technique. Space reserved for the current year\u2019s winner, of course. And that name isn\u2019t added until the final stage is over. The second and third place finishers receive crystal vases made from the same manufactory, but they only contain an inscription of the podium placement.<\/p>\n

The podium of Grand Tour trophies<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Far be it from one article to decide for the masses. Other than pure visual aesthetics, the history and culture behind each trophy may sway your affections in your final Grand Tour trophy podium. Any of the three would already be a fantastic accomplishment in the career of a professional cyclist.<\/p>\n

Personally, I would give first place to the Giro d\u2019Italia\u2019s Trofeo Senza Fine. I think it\u2019s contemporary, exquisite and I love the fact its design came from a public competition. Cycling, after all, is a sport for the masses, right? The Tour de France\u2019s Coupe Omnisports lands on the second step of the podium for its classic looks and pure prestige, with the Vuelta rounding things off in third place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you watch the Grand Tours? Who can say no to an epic racing battle and raccoon faces on muddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":191243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[6815,6817,402,479,6816,3432,433],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-191240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-cycling-grand-tour-trophies","tag-fabrizio-galli","tag-giro-ditalia","tag-la-vuelta","tag-omnisports","tag-skoda","tag-tour-de-france","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Trophies of Cycling's Grand Tours - We Love Cycling Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you watch the Grand Tours? Who can say no to an epic racing battle and raccoon faces on muddy cobbled roads or dusty gravel sections? 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