PARIS (Reuters) – Seven-time grand tour winner Alberto Contador is auctioning the bike he used during the 2011 Giro d’Italia and Tour de France races and will donate the money to the Spanish Red Cross’s fight against the new coronavirus, the Spaniard said on Wednesday.
“Hello everyone, we are still struggling with this COVID-19 and I want to make one more effort. I will auction this original Giro-Tour 2011 bike, which is very special for me. The proceeds will go to #cruzrojaresponde,” Contador, who retired in 2017, wrote on Twitter.
The 37-year-old, who won the 2007 and 2009 Tours de France, was stripped of his 2011 Giro d’Italia title following a positive test for clenbuterol on the 2010 Tour.
In addition to his Tour titles, Contador won the Giro in 2008 and 2015 and the Tour of Spain in 2008, 2012 and 2014.
The bike, initially listed with a price of 2,500 euros ($2,716), was at 12,400 euros at 1500 GMT on Wednesday.
Some 146,690 people have been infected by the coronavirus in Spain and 14,555 have died.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
