The coveted Tour de France trophy won less than three months ago by Welsh rider Geraint Thomas has been stolen from a cycle show in England.
Thomas's team, Team Sky, said on Wednesday that police are investigating after the trophy disappeared during an event in Birmingham, where the British team displayed the three Grand Tour trophies won by their riders. Apart from Thomas's Tour de France silverware, the exhibition also had Chris Froome's Giro d'Italia and last years' Spanish Vuelta trophies.
This was Thomas' first Grand Tour title and the trophy, loaned to bike manufacturer Pinarello, had been on display at venues across the UK.
Geraint Thomas (L) and Christopher Froome celebrate during the 105th Tour de France 2018, Stage 21 at Champs-Elysees in Paris. /VCG Photo
"It is incredibly unfortunate that this has happened," Thomas said in a statement. "It goes without saying that the trophy is of pretty limited value to whoever took it, but means a lot to me and to the team."
"Hopefully whoever took it will have the good grace to return it. A trophy is important, but clearly what matters most are the amazing memories from this incredible summer and no one can ever take those away."
Meanwhile, Pinarello managing director Richard Hemington said, "We accept full responsibility and have personally apologized to Geraint. We hope that the trophy can be recovered."
Incidentally, Thomas won the team's sixth Tour de France title in seven years in July.
It was the fourth successive grand tour win for the team after Chris Froome won the Tour and the Vuelta a Espana last year before clinching this year's Giro d'Italia.
Photographers take photographs of Pickles, the dog who sniffed out the missing Jules Rimet World Cup Trophy, which had been stolen from the National Stamp Exhibition. /VCG Photo
The theft is reminiscent of the legendary Jules Rimet World Cup trophy heist. Quite interestingly, the iconic Jules Rimet Trophy, awarded to the FIFA World Cup winners until 1970, was also stolen from an exhibition in London ahead of the 1966 World Cup before it was recovered by a mongrel called Pickles.
In 1970, Brazil, being the three-time winners of the golden statuette took it home after their third title triumph, the trophy was put on display at the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters in Rio de Janeiro in a cabinet with a front of bullet-proof glass. However, on December 19, 1983, the wooden rear of the cabinet was smashed and the cup was stolen again. The trophy has never been recovered, and it is widely believed to have been melted down and sold.