Bernal auctions bike and Tour de France jerseys to aid coronavirus fight
Tour de France champion auctions bike and jerseys as riders look to contribute to fight against COVID-19.
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Tour de France champion Egan Bernal is auctioning a Pinarello bike and yellow and white jerseys from last year’s Tour to raise money to help fight coronavirus.
The 23-year-old Colombian is pledging proceeds to Fundación Exito, a charity providing food and supplies for children in Colombia suffering from coronavirus.
He announced the auction on his Instagram account, saying: “Colombia, what do you think of this challenge? Help us to collect more money for the children of our country (Another Tour De France is coming from here). So we must feed them well.”
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Retired Spaniard Alberto Contador is doing similar, auctioning a custom-liveried bike from the 2011 Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.
Contador was originally awarded the pink jersey at that year’s Giro, but found it subsequently stripped from him as the season’s results were voided following doping investigations. Contador said in a post on Instagram that the Specialized Tarmac held fond memories nonetheless.
“We are still fighting with this COVID-19 and I want to make one more effort, I think there is no better time than now,” he said. “I’m going to auction this bike, original Giro-Tour 2011 [it is] very special for me.”
The bike is being auctioned on eBay on behalf of the Spanish Red Cross, with the bidding already at over 19,000 euros ($20,800 USD).
Several other riders have been contributing to the fight against coronavirus. Michał Kwiatkowski recently stated in a Facebook post that he was offering out his apartments in Poland to care workers so that they could avoid the risk of spreading illness to their families by returning to their own homes. Kwiatkowski’s Ineos teammate Luke Rowe also donated a bike to an intensive care worker after theirs was stolen from outside a hospital in Cardiff.
Grand tour sprint star Dylan Groenewegen, and Astana rider Davide Martinelli are also reported to be riding as bike couriers in the Netherlands and Italy respectively, delivering essential supplies to the elderly.