Fabian Cancellara's last Tour of Flanders bicycle brought in €16,100 (£13,722) in an online auction on Friday. The Trek Domane SLR, still dirty from the Belgian monument, was valued at £7200.
An unnamed Belgian snapped up Cancellara's carbon Trek. He placed bids of €10,050 and €14,100 before the winning €16,100 bid on auction site Catawiki.
The Swiss retired last year after winning the time trial in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He placed second in Flanders, but holds three titles in the race.
"It's the bike I rode in Ronde van Vlaanderen, one of three special bikes: I have one, Trek has one and this one to be auctioned for a special cause," Cancellara told Belgium's Sporza TV last year during the Tour de France.
"It's a special piece, a last Ronde bike. This one was used. The one Trek has wasn't used."
The original starting number Cancellara used, 41, was still attached grey and yellow carbon frame and his Flanders's placings in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 noted on the top tube.
Fabian Cancellara riding the Trek during his final Tour of Flanders (Daniel Gould)
(Image credit: Daniel Gould)
On the frame, instead of Cancellara, team Trek-Segafredo mechanic Roger Theel attached Tony M.
"It's Tony Montana, Scarface, it comes from Roger the mechanic, a couple of years ago," Cancellara explained. "We always laughed about the name, the Americans grab on it.
"It's a special movie, not the best for kids, but in the American training camps it continued, and we always laughed about it.
"Roger put a small name of Tony Montana on the bike when I raced the Roubaix one year, it took off from there. I'm not really related with his philosophy, it's just a classic old Oliver Stone movie."
Cancellara rode Colnagos, Pinarellos, Specializeds and Treks in his career that spanned nearly two decades.
'Spartacus' or, as Roger would say 'Tony Montana', won three of the five monuments: Milan-San Remo in 2008, and Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix three-times each.
He dominated time trials over the years. Besides the Rio de Janeiro medal, he won gold in the 2008 Beijing Games, and four times the World Championship title.
All that remained are the bicycles and his memories of the 35-year-old Swiss from Bern.
Sky's Geraint Thomas said this summer, "He's been strong and always tough to win a Classic with him around. It will be interesting without him around, it will allow others to believe now that they can win more and create a different tactical battle."
Cancellara’s battle now is to plan the next phase in his life. He said that he could work in sports marketing, but has not decided yet.
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Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
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