Cyclist
The 8 best trophies in pro cycling
Cycling sits in a strange place within sport. Its biggest prizes are often low-budget leader’s jerseys. However, the lucky riders receive not only a coveted jersey, but also a hefty spread of under-appreciated trophywear to go with it.
There’s no equivalent to the Jules Rimet, Stanley Cup or Lombardi in pro cycling. The Tour de France trophy is a mere blue bowl that looks like something you’d find on a dusty shelf of a charity shop. There are also countless bike-inspired silverware to be won, including novelty chainrings, cassettes and wheels. Glassware of all sorts is also a well-trodden trophy trope – whether it be a giant vase, a frosted glass plate or a crystallised outline of the host region.
In between the wafts of shiny bike wheel trophies, cycling does offer plenty of classy prizes, from animal-themed gifts to ones rooted in Roman mythology. Today, we’re rifling through pro cycling’s trophy cabinet to find out the best prizes available in the sport.
8. Tour de Suisse
The Tour de Suisse is often overshadowed by the Critérium du Dauphiné, which takes place during the same week in June. However the Swiss race wins any trophy contest.
The trophy is essentially a sand timer wrapped in two metallic cylinders. Time is always of the essence in cycling, and with Switzerland’s watchmaking pedigree, this combination makes sense. That said, we’re not 100% sure how much sand is actually in the trophy. How much time does it represent? Is it the gap between first and second place in GC? We can only guess.
It really requires both hands to carry. According to our calculations (or, rather, guesstimations), the trophy is approximately one metre tall, coming up to most riders’ belly buttons.
The intimidating size and practicality of this trophy might be off-putting to some as it’s one of the only major stage races never to be won by ‘The Big Four’ of Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič or Remco Evenepoel.
7. Tour de Pologne
The WorldTour-level Tour de Pologne offers a chance for riders to ‘take pride in not only winning the general classification, but also this unique work of art’, according to the race’s website.
The Polish race’s trophy is crafted by Italian artist Mirko Demattè, who personally signs the trophy each year. Demattè, whose work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, draws on experimental artists, citing Jackson Pollock as a source of inspiration. He’s certainly got more credentials than a couple of Norwegian school kids.
His creation ‘symbolises continuity and the flow of energy through the street, the place of cycling par excellence,’ according to the artist. It’ll definitely look good on a mantlepiece or an art museum plinth, so it easily beats most of the fodder usually handed out. It’s anchored by a quartz base and wrapped in the red and white colours of the Polish flag.
6. Arctic Race of Norway
One of the most interesting bike races in the world – and not just because of its salmon-themed prize – the Arctic Race of Norway is the only pro race to take place, you guessed it, above the Arctic Circle. In the past, the race has tried out a couple of novel ideas, including having school children design some of the trophies on offer.
Sadly for them, they did not draw up the GC victor’s prize. That was designed by Geir Samuelsen, an art academic who works at the University of Bergen, in 2022. His creation depicts a globe caged by a sphere of longitudes and latitudes. The cage is cut off by the time it reaches the Arctic Circle to meet a mountainous landscape sculpted from metal, inscribed with the words: ‘We race above the Arctic Circle’. You know, just in case we didn’t get it.
It feels far more grandiose than your bog-standard bike wheel or bargain bucket vase. The mountaintop garnishings also give it a unique touch. Somehow bike races haven’t gone for more mountain-themed trophies yet.
5. Clasica Jaén
Food is no stranger to the pro cycling podium. At the Arctic Race of Norway, you can win your bodyweight in salmon, while at the Tour de Romandie riders receive a wedge of cheese if they lead a classification. Charcuterie is handed out at the Tour de Suisse and Tour of Austria, while the British one-day Rutland-Melton Cicle Classic hands out pork pies on the podium. Clasica Jaén, on the other hand, has cornered the market on having a food-related trophy.
The race, first run in 2022, has used local produce as inspiration for the gravel race’s show-stopping prize. In homage to the olive groves featured on the route, the trophy is a voluptuous metal olive, placed on top of a wooden plank. The olive, which appears to be stoned, is almost the same size as 2025 winner Michał Kwiatkowski’s head.
Although it’s one of the newer races, the golden olive has become a cult classic already amongst cycling fans. All we need now is a feta cheese trophy and some sliced onions to make a full Greek salad on the podium.
4. Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne is an integral part of the Classics‘ opening weekend. The sprinter-friendly one-day race has been won by the likes of Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen over the past five years. Although early season bragging rights may seem like enough of a prize for its champions, the race hands out a fluffy donkey to the man atop the podium.
This one may seem odd but residents of Kuurne are affectionately known as ‘donkeys’. This nickname originated centuries ago when farmers from Kuurne would arrive into nearby Kortrijk early in the morning for the weekend market. Their donkey-drawn carts would wake up the residents of Kortrijk as their hooves clattered through the streets.
In honour of this nickname, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne hands out the most sought after stuffed donkey in sport. The toy itself is sculpted on Ambroos, a donkey statue found outside Kuurne’s town hall. The podium-sized version is much nicer than the statue, which holds some resemblance to Eddy Murphy’s character from Shrek.
3. Tirreno-Adriatico
Nicknamed ‘The Race of the Two Seas’, it’s reasonable for Tirreno-Adriatico to lean into the maritime theme. While a ship, anchor or an artistic rendition of a wave would have been unique enough, the race organisers opted for a big ol’ trident.
The trident isn’t a reference to Movistar Grand Tour strategies of old, instead it’s a nod to Neptune, the Roman god of the seas, and the Tirreno-Adriatico trophy is brought to shores by local lifeguards in what has become a yearly tradition.
This quirky piece of trophyware was first introduced in 2010, replacing a rather mundane metallic vase. The trident is remade each year, using a mix of brass and aluminium, weighing approximately 5kg. The trophy is one of the biggest physically in pro cycling, standing at one metre in height.
2. Paris-Roubaix
Yes, this isn’t a controversial choice. The Paris-Roubaix trophy is widely regarded as one of the most iconic in the sport. It’s simple yet effective. There’s no better way to honour Paris-Roubaix than by handing out a liberated cobblestone for the victor to cherish.
The trophy has been made by a company based in Orchies – a town that boasts two pavé sectors – for decades now. The elite men and women receive a cobblestone trophy, as do the men’s under-23 and junior winners, as do some VIPs. Around 20 of these bad boys are made for the race each year. Each trophy is unique and made from authentic granite cobblestones. When placed attached to the trophy’s plinth, it altogether weighs approximately 12kg.
Volunteer association Les Amis du Paris-Roubaix, however, have been kindly asking for tourists to stop taking cobblestones from the course as a souvenir, or in an attempt to carve a cobblestone trophy of their own. The trophies themselves are made using discarded cobblestones left by farmers on the roadsides, not pavé rooted in the ground.
1. Giro d’Italia
The Giro d’Italia certainly has the best of the three Grand Tour trophies. The Tour hands out a glorified fruit bowl, while the Vuelta dishes out a mysterious glass prize that lives on in the memory of no-one.
The Trofeo Senza Fine – ‘The Trophy With No End’ – has been the Giro’s top prize since 1999. The unique design has each of the race’s winners engraved into its metallic helter-skelter and is made using a custom-made mould at a small workshop in Veneto. So iconic is its design, the slinky-like outline has been incorporated into the Giro’s logo, on-screen graphics and it has even now crept onto the maglia rosa. The most recent iterations of the pink jersey feature Trofeo Senza Fine-inspired zips.
The trophy is quite the paperweight, coming in at a claimed weight of 9.5kg. It’s 54cm in height, making it is both the heaviest and tallest trophy available for a Grand Tour winner. It might be one of the most valuable as well, boasting 18-carat gold-plating around the copper spiral.
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