Super_Prestige_Pernod
Super Prestige Pernod
Cycling competition
The Super Prestige Pernod was a season-long competition in road bicycle racing between 1958 and 1987. For the first edition it was known as the Prestige Pernod, and for the last four years as the Super Prestige Pernod International.
| Formerly | Challenge Desgrange-Colombo |
|---|---|
| Sport | Road bicycle racing |
| First season | 1959 (1959) |
| Ceased | 1987 |
| Replaced by | UCI Road World Cup |
| Countries | International |
| Last champion(s) |  Stephen Roche (IRE) |
| Most titles |  Eddy Merckx (BEL) (7) |
Disagreements between the organisers of the similar Challenge Desgrange-Colombo led to its demise and a gap in season-long competitions. In 1958, the publicity division of Pernod offered a trophy for the best French rider of the year. The competition was known as the Prestige Pernod. It was a rival to Challenge Yellow, run by the chain company Sedis since 1931.
The following year, Pernod added the Super Prestige Pernod, for the best rider of the year, assessed on points attributed to the biggest races. At the same time it introduced Promotion Pernod, for the best French rider under 25. The Super Prestige Pernod became an unofficial world points championship.
A fourth class, Promotion Internationale, appeared in 1983 but that and the Promotion Pernod vanished the following year to create a single Super Prestige Pernod. A women's competition was added in 1985. Both were abandoned at the end of 1987 when France banned drinks advertising in sport.[1]
The Super Prestige Pernod was won by some of the greatest names in professional cycle racing. They included Jacques Anquetil, who won four times, Eddy Merckx won a record seven times (1969–1975); Bernard Hinault equalled Anquetil's total with his fourth consecutive victory in 1982; while the final four years were won by Irish riders Sean Kelly (1984–1986) and Stephen Roche (1987). Anquetil was the only rider to regain the title having lost it, a feat he achieved twice.
| Race | Location | Type | Years | Editions within SPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amstel Gold Race |  Netherlands | Single day race | 1976–1987 | 10 |
| Bordeaux–Paris |  France | Single day race | 1959–1970, 1973–1987 | 27 |
| Circuit du Provençal | France | Stage race | 1965 | 1 |
| Clásica de San Sebastián |  Spain | Single day race | 1987 | 1 |
| Clásico RCN |  Colombia | Stage race | 1986–1987 | 2 |
| Coors Classic |  United States | Stage race | 1986–1987 | 2 |
| Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré | France | Stage race | 1959–1966, 1969–1974, 1976–1987 | 26 |
| Four Days of Dunkirk | France | Stage race | 1961–1962, 1967–1987 | 23 |
| Genoa–Nice |  Italy/ France | Single day race | 1961–1962 | 2 |
| Gent–Wevelgem | Belgium | Single day race | 1979–1987 | 9 |
| Giro d'Italia | Italy | Stage race | 1961–1987 | 27 |
| Giro di Campania | Italy | Single day race | 1962 | 1 |
| Giro di Lombardia | Italy | Single day race | 1960–1987 | 28 |
| Grand Prix de Fourmies | France | Single day race | 1979 | 1 |
| Grand Prix des Nations | France | Individual time trial | 1959–1987 | 29 |
| Grand Prix du Midi Libre | France | Stage race | 1961, 1966–1967, 1969–1974, 1976–1987 | 21 |
| Grand Prix du Parisien | France | Team time trial | 1963–1965 | 3 |
| Grand Prix Stan Ockers | France | Single day race | 1959–1960, 1962–1963 | 4 |
| La Flèche Wallonne | Belgium | Single day race | 1961–1970, 1972, 1974, 1976–1987 | 24 |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Belgium | Single day race | 1960, 1965–1969, 1971, 1973, 1975–1987 | 21 |
| Milan–San Remo | Italy | Single day race | 1960–1987 | 28 |
| Milano–Torino | Italy | Single day race | 1979 | 1 |
| Omloop Het Volk | Belgium | Single-day race | 1983–1987 | 5 |
| Paris–Brussels | France/ Belgium | Single day race | 1959–1966, 1975–1978, 1981–1984, 1986–1987 | 18 |
| Paris–Luxembourg | France/ Luxembourg | Stage race | 1964–1970 | 7 |
| Paris–Nice | France | Stage race | 1960, 1963–1987 | 26 |
| Paris–Roubaix | France | Single day race | 1959–1987 | 29 |
| Paris–Tours | France | Single day race | 1959–1987 | 29 |
| Rund um den Henninger Turm |  Germany | Single day race | 1968–1974, 1977–1987 | 18 |
| Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme | Spain | Stage race | 1972–1974, 1976, 1978 | 5 |
| Tirreno–Adriatico | Italy | Stage race | 1980–1987 | 8 |
| Tour de France | France | Stage race | 1959–1987 | 29 |
| Tour de l'Avenir | France | Stage race | 1982–1987 | 6 |
| Tour de l'Ouest | France | Stage race | 1959 | 1 |
| Tour de la Nouvelle-France |  Canada | Stage race | 1972–1973 | 2 |
| Tour de Romandie |  Switzerland | Stage race | 1961–1962, 1974–1987 | 16 |
| Tour de Suisse | Switzerland | Stage race | 1974–1975, 1977–1987 | 13 |
| Tour of Flanders | Belgium | Single day race | 1960–1987 | 28 |
| Tour of Ireland | Ireland | Stage race | 1987 | 1 |
| Tre Valli Varesine | Italy | Single day race | 1961 | 1 |
| UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race | Varied | Single day race | 1959–1987 | 29 |
| Volta a Catalunya | Spain | Stage race | 1975, 1977, 1985–1987 | 5 |
| Vuelta a Colombia | Colombia | Stage race | 1986–1987 | 2 |
| Vuelta a España | Spain | Stage race | 1961–1987 | 27 |
| Züri-Metzgete | Switzerland | Single day race | 1975, 1979–1982, 1984–1987 | 9 |
Source:[2]
- Heijmans & Mallon 2011, p. 189.
- "Challenge Pernod". Memoire du cyclisme (in French). Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill (2011). Historical Dictionary of Cycling. Historical Dictionaries of Sports. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7175-5. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- Super Prestige Pernod palmares at Cycling Archives