Pope's Pinarello sells at auction for £12,000 - half of estimated price

A Pinarello Dogma F12 road bike, gifted to Pope Francis by Egan Bernal, has sold at auction for €14,000 (£11,995/$15,163).

The lot was estimated by experts to reach in the region of €25,000 (£21,417/$27,078) to €30,000 (£25,701/$32,494), but ended up going under the gavel at near retail price. 

A total of 47 bids were placed on the bike, with a French and an Italian bidder locked in a battle on Sunday night. The former ended up winning. 

The Pope received the bike as a present from Bernal in June 2021, following the Colombian’s Giro d’Italia victory. At the time, the Ineos Grenadiers rider said the duo’s meeting was "more important than winning the Giro and the Tour". 

"I think I’ve had many experiences in my life, but this is unique," said Bernal, who is a Catholic. "It’s the most beautiful experience I have had in my life." 

The gifted Pinarello is a size 53cm frame, adorned in the flag colours of Pope Francis’s native Argentina. It is equipped with a Shimano Ultegra groupset, Vision Wheels, Most Ultra Talon handlebars and rim brakes. 

Bernal also gave the Pontiff a signed Giro d’Italia maglia rosa, which sold at auction on Sunday for €1,853 (£1,587/$2,007) to a bidder in the US. 

Both lots were listed by a private seller on the Dutch online auction website Catawiki. In a statement, the site’s sports memorabilia expert, and former pro-cyclist, Ana Maria Covrig said the auction of the bike was a “remarkable moment” for Catawiki. 

The auction house has also recently sold a rainbow jersey, signed by Mathieu van der Poel, for €7,750 (£6,638/$8,394), one of Jonas Vingegaard’s helmets for €445 (£381/$482), and a Schleck edition 2012 Trek Madone bike for €2,250 (£1,927/$2,437). 

In 2020, a bike that three-time world champion Peter Sagan gave the Pope sold at auction for €30,000 (£25,701/$32,494). The Specialized Venge, coloured in the yellow and white of the Papal States, was signed by the Pope himself, “making it even more precious,” according to the listing.

Funds from the Venge sale went to supporting medical staff at two hospitals in Italy during the Covid-19 pandemic.