A custom Argentina Dogma F12 gifted to the Pope by Egan Bernal in 2021 is currently up for auction
(Image credit: Catawicki)
A Pinarello Dogma F12 that Egan Bernal gifted to Pope Francis during a visit to the Vatican in June 2021 is currently up for auction on Catawiki, a site for auctioning special objects.
Bernal gifted Pope Francis the special Pinarello Dogma F12 during a meeting in 2021. The special blue and white colour scheme was based on the flag of Argentina, the Pope's native country.
Bernal, a Roman Catholic, described meeting the Pope as a "unique" experience and "the most beautiful I’ve had in my life."
Speaking at the time, Bernal said of his meeting with the Pope, "This was a thousand times more stressful [than a Grand Tour]," Bernal said. "I didn't know what to say to him. I had some words prepared, but I was very nervous, although once we started talking, it became easier."
The custom Pinarello Dogma F12 (Image credit: Catawicki)
The Dogma F12 features a blue and white colour scheme in a nod to the Pope's native Argentina. It also features some custom flourishes, like the Pope's coat of arms on the top tube.
The bike features a mechanical Ultegra, not a Dura-Ace groupset and Vision wheels. We assume as a purely ceremonial bike, a full Dura-Ace di2 groupset and wheel package wasn't really required.
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This isn't the first bike gifted to a pope by a cyclist, and we covered the special edition Specialized Venge Peter Sagan gifted to the Pontiff in 2018. Sagan, the then-reigning World Road Race Champion, said Pope Francis was "cool."
That Specialized bike was also auctioned off a few years later in 2020, with the funds from the sale going to COVID-19-hit areas in Italy
Catawiki says the bike itself has an estimated worth of 20-30,000 euros. The current high bid sits at €2,200 The online auction started on the 15th of March and runs through to Sunday the 24th of March 7:01PM CET if you fancy treating yourself to a rather special machine.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
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