Contador and Nadal auction memorabilia for Spanish Red Cross

[April 09, 2020]    PARIS (Reuters) - Alberto Contador is auctioning his bike from the 2011 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France while Rafa Nadal is selling the shirt he wore when he won the 2019 French Open to raise money for the Spanish Red Cross' fight against the coronavirus.

Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts during his final match against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. REUTERS/Carlos Perez Gallardo

Seven-times grand tour winner Contador, who retired in 2017, and 19-times Grand Slam winner Nadal made the announcements on Twitter on Wednesday.

"Hello everyone, we are still struggling with this COVID-19 and I want to make one more effort. I will auction this original Giro-Tour 2011 bike, which is very special for me. The proceeds will go to #cruzrojaresponde," Contador said.

The 37-year-old, who won the Tour de France in 2007 and 2009, was stripped of his 2011 Giro d'Italia title following a positive test for clenbuterol on the 2010 Tour.

In addition to his Tour titles, Contador won the Giro in 2008 and 2015 and the Tour of Spain in 2008, 2012 and 2014.

The bike, initially listed for auction with a price of 2,500 euros ($2,716), was at 12,400 euros at 1500 GMT on Wednesday.

World number two Nadal was looking to win a record-extending 13th French Open title this year, which would have put him level with Roger Federer on 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

However, the year's second Grand Slam was postponed from its May start to Sept. 20-Oct. 4 due to the pandemic.

Some 146,690 people have been infected by the coronavirus in Spain and 14,555 have died.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; additional reporting by Rohith Nair; Editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.