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Tour De France trophy arrives at TCA

One of the most iconic trophies from the world of Cycling arrived at Thomas Clarkson Academy this week.

One of the most iconic trophies from the world of Cycling arrived at Thomas Clarkson Academy this week.

Students and staff were given the rare opportunity of holding The Tour De France’s Grand Depart Trophy when it arrived in school on Tuesday, March 4th.

Head of PE Barry Delve said: “The Grand Depart Tour De France Trophy is touring the country promoting that stages of the Tour are again being held in Britain.

 “Following the success of the British cyclists at the London 2012 Olympics and two English winners of the Tour de France in 2012 and 2013 our Academy was lucky enough to be invited to host the trophy. This was a real privilege and an extremely exciting opportunity for staff and students alike both to have their photograph taken with the trophy and to further raise the profile of the Tour and cycling in this country”.

The Tour De France has 21 stages and this year Stage 1 of the Tour starts in Yorkshire on July 5th with cyclists going from Leeds to Harrogate. Stage 2 is from York to Sheffield and Stage 3 is from Cambridge to London finishing at The Mall on July 7th. The race finishes in Paris on July 27th.

On the day students were also given the chance to speak to two members of the Wisbech Wheelers Cycling Club who brought their road race bikes into the school.  The students were amazed how light the bikes were and took an avid interest in the sport.

Assistant Librarian Faith Howland who took photos of the event, said “It was wonderful to see the students so enthusiastic and genuinely interested in both the road race bikes and the trophy.  Many commented how lucky they felt to have such an inspirational object in their school and after seeing the trophy, they commented that they would be watching the tour, especially the third stage when it runs from Cambridge.”