Andy Schleck was honoured at a ceremony at the Elysée Palace in Paris on Thursday night for his 2010 Tour de France win. French President Francois Hollande presented him with the trophy given to Tour de France winners.

We finished second to Alberto Contador in 2010 but it later emerged that Contador had tested positive for clenbuterol during the third week of the race and was retrospectively stripped of his title.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme presented Schleck with the yellow jersey in his home town of Mondorf in May 2012, three months after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Contador’s positive test, but he did not receive the famous Vase de Sèvres until Thursday – almost two months after Schleck had announced his retirement due to injury.

Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s Minister for Foreign Affairs organized the meeting after reading an interview with Schleck a few years ago where he stated his disappointment at not bring given the trophy.

"After he was disqualified, Contador never handed back the trophy," Asselborn told Le Quotidien. "In October, when Andy took the decision to end his career, I said to myself that that was the moment, especially as I knew that François Hollande was a fan of Andy. He had spoken about him to me many times. He adored his style, his class on the bike…"

Schleck and his family were received by Hollande in a private reception at the Élysées Palace. “I am very honoured to have met Monsieur Le President," Scheck wrote on Twitter, after posting a picture of himself with the trophy and the laconic caption, "Finally after 4 years."