Winners of the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour won’t just be walking away from the event with an accolade, but a piece of artwork too.
The Cycle Tour has teamed up with artist and designer Carrol Boyes to bring new trophies to the 36th edition of the event.
There are two versions of the trophies – the men’s winner, right, and women’s winner, below – and were designed by Holly Birkby for Boyes.
Shaped in a circle, as a reference to a spinning bicycle wheel, the trophies are made up of three intricate layers of stainless steel.
The front layers show cyclists spinning around the route while the back layer depicts the silhouettes of the mountains along the 110km route.
Stylised Proteas and even a few penguins will be cut into the back plate to pay homage to the flora and fauna of the Cape.
“I thought it would be great to create a striking trophy that would be unusual and would capture a little of the dynamism and spectacle of the thousands of cyclists encircling Cape Town on the day of the event,” said Birkby.
Boyes said the design was first pinned down in October and it has been a long process to work out the details and feed them into the computer so that the metal could be shaped by a laser cutter.
She said that while her company has produced trophies for other sports, she was delighted when the Cycle Tour’s team asked her to design the new trophies because she was proud of the event. Since she moved to Cape Town more than 35 years ago, when she witnessed the inception of the tour, she has always made time to watch riders skim through the route.
“I live alongside the last part of the route and make a point of being outside on that Sunday morning just before 9am to see the winners come through and later in the day to encourage the weary ones across the finish line,” she said.
David Bellairs, director of the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust, said the new trophies “will fit perfectly with the iconic status of the Cycle Tour as the world’s largest timed cycle race, and is an apt reflection of the spirit of camaraderie that our event is known for”.