Geraint Thomas's Tour de France trophy stolen from Birmingham NEC

The most famous prize in the sport had been loaned to the venue to go on display at the Cycle Show but was nabbed after being left unattended.

The company left in charge of looking after the gong, Pinarello, has said it is 'devastated' by the loss and took full responsibility.

Double Olympic gold medallist Thomas, who won the Tour for the first time this summer, has urged whoever stole the trophy to return it.

Police have launched an investigation into the theft, which according to Team Sky happened as the gong was 'momentarily left unattended'. The trophy was stolen on September 29 but Team Sky only confirmed it had disappeared in a statement today.

“It is incredibly unfortunate that this has happened," Thomas said.

"It goes without saying that the trophy is of pretty limited value to whoever took it, but means a lot to me and to the team.

"Hopefully whoever took it will have the good grace to return it.

"A trophy is important, but clearly what matters most are the amazing memories from this incredible summer – and no-one can ever take those away.”

Thomas's victory in July came after years of primarily riding as support for teammate Chris Froome, who won the Tour four times between 2013 and 2017.

Both riders were tipped to have a chance of victory ahead of the Tour but it was 32-year-old Thomas who proved the strongest in the team and the race, finishing almost two minutes ahead of second-placed Tom Dumoulin.

Froome today described the theft as 'appalling'.

Richard Hemington, Managing Director of Pinarello (UK) said: “We are obviously devastated about this. We accept full responsibility and have personally apologised to Geraint. Obviously we all hope that the trophy can be recovered.”

Time for Pickles?

Thomas's victory was the second of three Grand Tour triumphs for British riders in 2018, coming in between Froome's Giro d'Italia win and Simon Yates's success at the Vuelta a España.

The incident is reminiscent of the 1966 theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy, awarded to the football world cup winners, which was stolen from a cabinet during an exhibition at a hall in Westminster in March.

On that occasion the trophy was famously found by Pickles the dog seven days after it was stolen and four months before England lifted the trophy for the first and only time at Wembley.

A spokeswoman for the NEC Group said: “We are aware of the incident taking place during the break down of the Cycle Show at the NEC last month.

"We are working closely with Team Sky, West Midlands Police and our security partners OCS to aid their investigation. All parties wish for safe return of the trophy.”

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "Police were contacted on 2 October to report the theft of a trophy from the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, sometime between 6.30 and 7.30pm on 29 September.

"Anyone with information can contact us via Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk between 8am to midnight, call 101 anytime or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Quote crime reference number 20SH/225824R/18."