Lasvit has hand-made and cut the crystal trophies for the winners of the jubilee 100th year of the Tour de France cycle race. The trophies, one each for the overall winner, best under-25 rider, best sprinter, and best climber, were designed by Peter Olah under the management of Jozef Kaban, chief designer of Škoda Auto.
Inspired by the dynamics and atmosphere of the most prestigious and challenging cycle race, Olah has designed a series of hand-blown, hand-cut trophies as impressive in scale as they are demanding in creation. Each is over two feet tall and weighs almost eight pounds, while the meticulous blowing and precise hand cutting of the four trophies took the glassmakers hours to complete.
This year, a layer of opal glass has been introduced and then ground using wedge-shaped cutters, revealing the crystal underneath and producing a decorative design with a strict, geometric shape. The brightness and shine of the crystal in combination with the cutting gives rise to a unique piece of art, merging tradition and precision in a tribute to craftsmanship.
"The opportunity to design the trophy for this fantastic race once again challenged me to build on the success of past years and produce a design that is even more a celebration of Czech hand-cut crystal glass and the precision with which Czech glassmakers can work with crystal," Olah commented. "I am already looking forward to their presentation on Paris' Champs-Élysees."