Annemiek van Vleuten has raised €17,000 for charity, part of which will go towards her fellow rider Amy Pieters, by auctioning off her old kit.
The world champion, who won the Giro Donne, Tour de France Femmes, and Vuelta Challenge in an all-conquering 2022 campaign, put on an event at her local bike store in Wageningen, Netherlands.
She brought along old jerseys, among them Movistar team jerseys, and leader's jerseys from the the Tour, other major races, and the UCI WorldTour series. There was also old training kit, along with shoes, helmets, and other accessories.
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More than 200 people reportedly turned up, with the sale smashing all expectations and some jerseys changing hands for €1000. Van Vleuten also charged €10 for a meet-and-greet, signing autographs and posing for photos with fans.
By the end of the afternoon, the total amount raised reached €17,000.
"This is super cool. I've done this here before, but this is definitely the biggest turnout ever," Van Vleuten said.
The proceeds will be split between two charities. Half will go to the Amy Pieters Foundation, which provides support to Van Vleuten's former teammate who suffered a life-changing head injury at the start of the year. The other half will go to Bikes4Masai, a charity in Kenya that helps supply bikes to the Masai population.
"They now sometimes have to walk 20 kilometers to school. We try to buy bicycles for them so that they do go to school," Van Vleuten said.
"It's very nice that everyone is so generous. This makes me really happy."
The event was put on by the store's owner, Roel Peerenboom, who was doing this for the third time in the past few years. The first two auctions fetched €10,000 and €8,500 respectively, so this one surpassed all expectations.
"It is nice to see that someone is so popular and that you can convert the cycling gear, which no longer has much value to her, into money for a good cause," said Peerenboom.
"It's great to see that so many people come to it, even though it's not directly the potential target group for my store. These are real cycling fans and we sell bicycles other than high-end racing bicycles. But that does not alter the fact that this bustle in the business is always fun."
Van Vleuten may well collect some even more valuable items next year as she embarks on the final season of her illustrious career.
