The Cyclists of the Tour de France Vied for LASVIT’s Crystal Trophy

Since 2011, the trophy has retained the same iconic shape, and has become a symbol for the race as a whole. The hand-blown art work is the same diamerter on both ends, but narrows in the middle. Every year however, it changes in its cut and finish, which Peter Olah designs every year anew. This year’s design was inspired by the traditional Czech craft of glass-cutting itself, and it dons a truly challenging finish – the cutting was done by the difficult “spitzstein” method.

“It is one of the most traditional cutting methods, one which many Czech people might recognize from the glassware of our grandmothers. It consists of regular squares which are finely cut into the shape of a pyramid,” says designer Peter Olah.

The pattern which adorns the whole trophy is very challenging, and requires years of practice and a true craftsman’s touch. This year’s trophy was made by a master glass-cutter who is 75 years of age, and has devoted his entire life to perfecting this type of cut. Going from work station to work station, always striving for true excellence, the overall cutting process took him a full three days.

The trophy which each of the four winning riders will receive is made from one piece of hand-blown and hand-cut crystal glass, each of them weighing almost four kilograms and standing over sixty centimeters tall. Although this is the eighth time that LASVIT has worked on the trophies in tandem with Peter Olah, the decor has never repeated itself, and they remain distinct for each annual race.