Professional Cycling For the Fans - Why the stuffed lion?

Watching today's coverage of the Criterium Internationale, my wife asked me the meaning of the stuffed lion that's given out to the winner in quite a number of races. After a moment's thought, I realized I didn't have a clue.

Anyone care to tell the history, meaning, etc. of the critter?

The lion is the mascot of Crédit Lyonnais who sponsor the TDF. They also sponsor the Criterium International. I believe the lion has been handed out since '87 or so.

Thank you. And my wife thanks you.

And now she wants me to find her one.

Someone once mentioned purchasing on in France for something like $100.

Thank you. And my wife thanks you.

And now she wants me to find her one.

Talk to Lance Armstrong, he has a couple of extras....:)

Thank you. And my wife thanks you.

And now she wants me to find her one.

There's a twist. The lion is no longer the mascot of that bank, because after a series of disastrous investments (in Hollywood, I recall) they changed their name to LCL. (Kinda like AIG is going to do, and Andersen consulting did...).

However, the mascot remains for purpose of the TdF -- for the sake of tradition.

This probably means, for your purposes, that it will be harder to find. (Try ebay.fr -- good luck).

I hope you can read French...

LION (http://cgi.ebay.fr/peluche-lion-mascotte-tour-de-France-credit-lyonnais_W0QQitemZ310132223634QQcmdZViewItemQQptZFR_Jeux_JouetsAnciens_JouetsAnciens?hash=item310132 223634&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1526%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318)

There's a twist. The lion is no longer the mascot of that bank, because after a series of disastrous investments (in Hollywood, I recall) they changed their name to LCL. (Kinda like AIG is going to do, and Andersen consulting did...).

However, the mascot remains for purpose of the TdF -- for the sake of tradition.

This probably means, for your purposes, that it will be harder to find. (Try ebay.fr -- good luck).

And before that it was BANANIA which made breakfast foods and nutritious drinks out of chocolate and bananas but they had an Uncle Remus kind of mascot that wouldn't have looked good as a stuffed podium prize.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/Banania2.jpg/150px-Banania2.jpg

I read that Credit Lyonnais (or LCL) supports the whole ASO organization, which runs several different races including TdF, mostly or exclusively in France -- this makes sense, as I saw they were giving out lions at Paris-Nice too.