The VIA Trofeo Sospeso

18th July, 2023

If you’re a bike racing fan and find yourself in London on Saturday, July 22nd, stop by Pegoretti’s partner, VIA, who is hosting a day of criterium events in and around the King’s Cross estate. They’ll be bikes, cycling culture, good food, Italian coffee, and the chance to ride the race course yourself. We won’t be there in person (although you can see some of our bikes at VIA throughout the year), but when the winner of Saturday’s KX Community Race raises the trophy above their head, Pegoretti will be at the centre of the action.

‘Trofeo Sospeso’ is our response to VIA’s request to design and fabricate the winner’s trophy for the KX Community Race. It’s inspired by the idea that the victor will only hold on to the trophy until the next year’s race, at which point they’ll pass it on to the new winner. In a sense, the trophy is suspended in time. And to us, that sounded like a cycling version of the old Neapolitan tradition of ‘Caffè Sospeso’, the act of paying for two cups of espresso but consuming only one, leaving the other ‘sospeso’ for a stranger to ask for and enjoy at some point in the future. It’s a community kindness as alive today as it was in the late 1800s when it originated in the working-class cafés of Naples.

Our design incorporates circles to represent the bicycle’s wheels, freedom and the ancient symbol of infinity, with vertical tubes extending to the sky to mimic the arms-raised winner’s gesture. The piece is finished with a Ciavete scheme as a colour expression of the concept.

To see our sospeso and more, be at VIA to watch the racing programme from 11:00 – 21:30 on Saturday, July 22nd. The KX Community Race kicks off at 15.25. For more info, head to VIA’s site.

← Back to Stories