Belgian auctions digital blockchain images of his victories at Strade Bianche, Mont Ventoux, and the Champs-Elysées
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) has sold an NFT of him winning the final stage of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: David Stockman/Belga/AFP/Getty Images)
Wout van Aert has sold non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of three of his biggest victories, taking in €47,002 after an online auction that concluded on Tuesday evening.
The Jumbo-Visma leader put up three NFTs for sale, each featuring animated images of his victories at the 2019 Strade Bianche and at Mont Ventoux, and the Champs-Elysées at the 2021 Tour de France.
The three NFTs sold for a grand total of 12.68 WETH (a form of the Ethereum cryptocurrency), which – at time of writing – converts to nearly £40,000.
The Strade Bianche NFT commanded the highest price at £13,997 (4.48 WETH), while his Ventoux win cost £13,112 (4.2 WETH), and his Champs-Elysées win went for £12,484 (4 WETH).
Following the auction, three lucky buyers now 'own' the digital images, which exist as a unit of data stored on blockchain, though anybody is free to view or download the image for themselves.
Van Aert and Jumbo-Visma will receive a percentage of the sale as well as a further 10 per cent if the NFTs are sold on.
The auction isn't cycling's first association with NFTs, digital art and blockchain, with Colnago getting in on the act earlier this year.
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The Italian bike manufacturer sold an NFT of a Colnago C64 back in May for 3.2 WETH, which was then worth £6,395. In September, the company also partnered with a blockchain specialist to provide official product validation on their real bikes.
Mark Cavendish has also announced the sale of a series of NFTs to celebrate his sprint victories at the Tour de France.
Van Aert, meanwhile, returned to training on the bike this month following a three-week break which included a holiday in Italy.
The Belgian, who won the Flandrien of the Year award last month, ended his successful road season with Paris-Roubaix in October, and is set to return to racing in the middle of the cyclo-cross season in December.
Check below to see the images of the Van Aert NFTs.
Image 1 of 3
Wout van Aert's Strade Bianche NFT(Image credit: Momentible)
Wout van Aert's Mont Ventoux NFT(Image credit: Momentible)
Wout van Aert's Champs-Elysées NFT(Image credit: Momentible)
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