Weirdest Cycling Race Prizes

While some would expect prize money and some a trophy, there are races that provide the winners with something rather unusual...

Transcript

00:00 Cycling can be weird and the most obvious way that this wonderful sports

00:07 eccentricity manifests itself is in its race prizes. So with that in mind we

00:13 decided to draw up a list of the most bizarre podium prizes. But before we get

00:17 into it don't forget to tick that little notification bell so you get told every

00:21 time we release new content.

00:27 Cairn is known for its donkeys but what was once a term of derision is now worn

00:32 with pride by the town. That's why the winner of Cairn Brussels Cairn is

00:36 awarded with a little cuddly donkey. That and they need to be a real hard-ass to

00:40 get through one of the toughest races of the year.

00:44 Nothing says congratulations like a roundel of stinking cheese but that's

00:51 exactly what past stage winners of the Tour of Britain have been rewarded with.

00:55 Their teammates on the team bus must have been absolutely thrilled.

01:00 If tasty local cheese doesn't float your boat then how about heading to

01:06 Austria for some massive sausage. Yet the lucky race leader of the Tour of

01:10 Austria receives one whopping Weissbauer sausage for every day the jersey is worn.

01:14 The phrase "going the whole hog" really takes on a different meaning at

01:23 Tro-Roe-Lyon otherwise known as the Tour of Lyon. It's a unique race in a number

01:27 of ways. It's 204 kilometers long, features 25 off-road sections and

01:32 includes everything from farm tracks to cobblestones to gravel paths. But perhaps

01:37 the most unique thing about the Tour of Lyon is that it crowns two winners. The

01:42 actual race winner and then the first place Breton who's lucky enough to win a

01:46 real living piglet.

01:50 The lucky rider that takes the King of the Mountains jersey in the Arctic race

01:54 of Norway will be rewarded with a giant salmon toy. If they're lucky enough to take

01:58 the overall King of the Mountains classification then they get rewarded

02:02 with 500 kilograms of prime Norwegian salmon. The lucky winner of Torino

02:11 Adriatico, a coast-to-coast race in Italy, is bespowed a large trident, the weapon

02:16 most commonly associated with Neptune, the god of the sea. But the marine theme

02:21 doesn't end there and in the days preceding the race the trident is

02:24 ceremonially raised from the Tyrrhenian Sea by divers of the Italian Coast Guard.

02:31 Each time the Vuelta a España visits Toledo, the stage winner receives a

02:37 Toledo sword, a traditional piece of craftsmanship that dates back to before

02:41 the Roman times and every time one is given out the mayor quips "good luck

02:45 getting this through customs". So there you go a list of our favorite, weird and

02:54 wonderful cycling prizes that have been awarded over the years. If you have any

02:58 good suggestions then please let us know in the comment section below and don't

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