The stripped-back Colnago Y1Rs that propelled Tadej Pogačar to time-trial success on Stage 13 of this year's Tour de France has sold for $190,500.
We covered the four iconic Colnago bikes up for auction by Sotheby's earlier this week, when Pogačar's bike had a bid of $16,000 and an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000.
The bike is a lightened version of Colnago's V1Rs that was specially made for the mountain time trials, with Pogačar going on to ride the bike up Mont Ventoux in a record time to defend his yellow jersey against Jonas Vingegaard.
This special-edition Y1Rs weighs just over 7kg, with a raw carbon finish helping with weight-saving and exposing the carbon weave below.
Pogačar's continued use of the bike may have put the final nail in the coffin of dedicated climbing bikes in UCI-regulated races, with the aerodynamic performance appearing to outweigh the small weight savings.
The bike has been on display at St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi for the duration of the auction.
While $190,500 is a ludicrous amount of money for a Colnago Y1Rs, which retails for around £11,999 / $14,500, it isn't a record-breaking figure for a bicycle at auction.
That honour belongs to a Damien Hirst-painted "Butterfly" Trek Madone ridden by Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France and auctioned off for LiveStrong for $500,000.
Other bikes sold in the auction sold were: Colnago track bike built to Eddy Merckx’s 1972 Hour Record dimensions ($12,065); Colnago C68 Rossa No. 1/90 ($21,590); Colnago C35 Oro Ferrari collaboration ($35,560).
