1913, Carlisle, United Kingdom. The most ancient motorcycling competition was born exactly 100 years ago on English soil. It was organized in a completely different way than it is nowadays, with a distinct name, the International Six Days Trial, that first edition has only seen the participation of a few British pilots and three French racers, with the winners being the English Charles Collier, Billy Little e W.B. Gibb. At the time, the competition was limited to pilots racing on motorcycles produced in their own Country, which was a limitation for hopeful participants and for that reason, in 1924, the "Silver Vase" trophy was introduced, allowing the participation of four pilots per nation on motorbikes fabricated in foreign countries.

Following a few victories from the Swiss team, the years between 1924 and 1929 witnessed the English predominance, with the first ever Italian victories in 1930 and 1931, the first organized on Italian soil, in Merano. Up until the break, due to World War II, the challenge for the first place was mostly between England and Germany. The competition re-started in 1947 with the “surprising” victory of the former Czechoslovakia, a nation that thanks to the support of its industry could in fact represent the Eastern European alternative to the supremacy of England in Western Europe. The  challenge between these two nations lasted throughout the end of 1950s.

The decade of 1960 saw Eastern Germany as the main competitor, with 7 victories out of 10 editions and with more victories earned by an Eastern European competitor in the following decade. Czechoslovakia, in fact, won most competitions in those years up until the Italian victories in 1979, 1980 and 1981.

Starting in 1981 the competition changed its name to become the current ISDE (International Six Days of Enduro). In 1985 the World Trophy’s rule of the same origin for pilots and motorbikes was abolished and the Silver Vase was thus replaced by the Junior Trophy for under-23 pilots. That decade saw a few Swedish victories but mostly Italian ones in 1979, 1980,1981, 1989 and the World and Junior World Trophy, both achieved in 1986.

The 90s have been characterized by an Italian and Finnish “turnover” with 5 and 3 World Trophies won respectively and with the triumphant  home editions, exemplified by the achievement of the World and Junior Trophy, in 1996 in Hämeenlinna for the Finnish team and in 1997 in Lumezzane for the Italian team. Nowadays, the challenge is between the United States, Italian, Finnish and French teams, with the last winner of the 2012 edition in Germany, all competing to try and win the centenary edition in Sardinia, Italy.