eBay Finds: 2010 Rabobank jersey signed by Bauke Mollema

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We've found this Agu-made 2010 Rabobank team jersey signed by Bauke Mollema on our latest trawl of eBay. The Dutchman has since moved on to Trek-Segafredo, while the Rabobank team has switched both its name and its colours to the yellow and black of Jumbo-Visma.

Take a closer look at Mollema's Rabobank jersey on eBay here

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The Rabobank team in fact began life in 1984 as Kwantum-Decosol, morphing into Superconfex and then Buckler in the early 1990s, followed by backing by Wordperfect and Novell, and then Rabobank in 1996.

Rabobank remained as the main sponsor until 2012, when the Dutch bank made the decision to step away from sponsoring the WorldTour squad following the US Anti-Doping Agency's 'reasoned decision', published late that season, which saw Lance Armstrong stripped of his seven Tour titles.

Rabobank nevertheless gamely offered to continue to bankroll the team until a new main sponsor could be found during the 2013 season, and after starting the year under the guidance of new manager and former journalist Richard Plugge – initially in blue, black and white jerseys emblazoned with the Blanco name – the team attracted Belkin as its major sponsor for the next year-and-a-half before becoming LottoNL-Jumbo in 2015.

Its steady rise to become one of the best teams in the world as Jumbo-Visma – boasting riders of the calibre of 2019 Vuelta a España winner Primoz Roglic and 2017 Giro d'Italia champion Tom Dumoulin – has corresponded with Plugge's vision, leadership and ability to attract new sponsors.

The team's kit is also again being made by Dutch clothing company Agu, who were a long-time kit supplier to Rabobank, and made the 2010 Rabobank jersey for sale here.

Mollema made the move from the Rabobank feeder squad to the WorldTour squad back in 2008, and stayed with the team all the way through to the end of the 2014 season, when what was then Trek Factory Racing came calling, and he's been there ever since.

It was during the 2010 season – in one of these Rabobank jerseys – that Mollema rode the first of what has now become 17 Grand Tours, where he claimed 12th at the Giro d'Italia. He's since scored a best finish of fifth at the Giro, in 2019, third at the 2011 Vuelta a España and sixth at the 2013 Tour de France.

Mollema crashed out of this year's Tour, which he'd entered as a co-leader for Trek-Segafredo alongside Richie Porte, who went on to take an impressive third place overall in Paris.

And while the Australian will move to Ineos Grenadiers in 2021, Mollema has pledged his allegiance to Trek-Segafredo for at least the next two seasons, and may find himself as the sole leader at next year's Tour – unless teammate and 2014 Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali chooses to shift his focus from the Giro d'Italia back to La Grande Boucle.

The Germany-based seller of this size large jersey is happy to post to anywhere within Europe, but may be able to be persuaded to post elsewhere, and is looking for £149 (US$192) for it, which seems like great value to us for this little slice of history.

We're constantly on the lookout for unique and rare cycling relics on eBay. If you have any suggestions or leads, please send them to cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com with 'eBay Finds' in the subject line.