‘Ow much? Tadej Pogačar’s Tour de France-winning Colnago Y1Rs fetches staggering $190,500 at auction – over $170,000 above estimate

Some lucky (and extremely wealthy) young cycling fan could be in for a real treat on Christmas morning, after arguably the greatest stocking filler of them all – Tadej Pogačar’s Tour de France-winning Colnago – sold at auction on Friday afternoon… for $190,500.

The world champion’s stealthy, stripped-back Y1Rs, which he raced during the final week of this year’s Tour, on his way to his fourth career yellow jersey in Paris, and at the world championships in Rwanda, formed part of Sotheby’s Collector’s Week in Abu Dhabi, alongside a host of other high-end and super rare Colnago bike bling.

Estimated to fetch between $15,000 to $20,000 (£11,000 to £15,000, so no more than the market rate for such a high-end bike), Pogačar’s Y1Rs sat at $90,000 for most of its final day of bidding.

However, a flurry of late bids saw the price skyrocket to a staggering $190,500, jumping in the final few seconds from $150,000 – the kind of sprint finish Mark Cavendish would be proud of, never mind Pogačar.

In the end, then, that means Pogačar’s bike sold for around £143,000, more than enough money to set you well on your way to funding an elite British racing team for a year. On a single bike. And that hefty final sum came despite, as we noted in our original report on the auction, Sotheby’s’ initial botching of the details surrounding the bike and its role in Tadej’s fourth Tour triumph.

Pogačar debuted the Y1Rs, albeit in an even more stripped-back black-and-white livery, on stage 13 of this year’s Tour, the mountain time trial to Peyragudes. And not, as Sotheby’s erroneously claimed, on La Planche des Belles Filles, the scene of his last-gasp 2020 Tour victory.

The bike may have been kept well away from the prying eyes of roving reporters with phone cameras at the start in Loudenvielle, but once it was unleashed, the Slovenian wasted no time in showcasing its capabilities, destroying the field during the 10.9km uphill test, beating closest rival Jonas Vingegaard by 36 seconds and everyone else by over 1.20.

Then, following the Tour’s final rest day, Pogačar unveiled the ‘Raw Carbon’ edition, complete with new rainbow details, in Montpellier at the start of stage 16 (not Toulouse, eh Sotheby’s?), before racing it up the fearsome Mont Ventoux.

Ironically, persistent and secret knee pain during the last week of the Tour meant the Y1Rs didn’t see Pogačar at his best in the yellow jersey. But the UAE Team Emirates leader did ride it for the rest of the season, piloting it to victory at the world championships in Rwanda, the European road race championships, Tre Valle Varesine, and Il Lombardia.

So you can see why it fetched almost £150,000. Kind of.

But if your heart (and wallet) wasn’t quite up to those Y1Rs levels of last-ditch drama, another Colnago belonging to Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates colleague Joāo Almeida also went under the hammer this afternoon.

That C68 Rossa No. 1 was ridden, gently, by the Portuguese stage racer during the team presentation of this year’s Vuelta a España in Turin, before being safely stored away and never pedalled in anger once. And it still managed to be sold for $21,590 (£16,500). It is nice, to be fair.

Elsewhere, a brilliantly eye-catching (if aesthetically divisive) Colnago C35, conceived in 1989 to celebrate the Italian brand’s 35th anniversary, with its out-there carbon frame, gold-plated Campagnolo Super Record groupset, and five-spoke wheels, fetched a very impressive $35,560 in the end (just under £27,000).

Now that’s one for the living room.

And finally, a restored Colnago-built track bike, built to the same measurements used by Eddy Merckx during his legendary 1972 Hour Record triumph, and featuring the same iconic design, proved the cheapest of the lot, selling for just $12,065 (£9,000), a few grand below the $15,000 lower estimate.

Bargain.