Marco Pantani's Mont Ventoux-winning Tour de France bike up for auction

A bike ridden to a Tour de France stage victory by Marco Pantani on Mont Ventoux in 2000 is one of the star attractions in an auction of sporting memorabilia in Milan next month.

The rider nicknamed il Pirata – the Pirate – who died in 2004 won the final two Grand Tour stages of his career on the bike at that year's Tour.

The Bolaffi auction house’s sale on 9 December will also feature the bike that Pantani rode in the road race at the Sydney Olympics that year (pictured below), as well as other items linked to him.

When he won the Tour de France in 1998 – in the process, becoming the last rider to win that race and the Giro d’Italia in the same year – Pantani’s Bianchi bike had a celeste and yellow colour scheme.

In 2000, however, with his team switching to predominantly pink jerseys to avoid clashing with the yellow jersey sported by the race leader, the bike was painted mainly black with pink accents.

Besides that Mont Ventoux stage – where he beat Lance Armstrong, winner of the overall but later stripped of that and six other victories in the race, to the stage win – Pantani also won a stage from Briancon to Courchevel in the 2000 Tour.

The bikes have been part of the collection of the museum of Mercatone Uno, the Italian furniture and electricals retailer, which is now bankrupt.

The Mont Ventoux stage-winning bike is expected to fetch between €25,000 and €30,000. The full spec appears below, and you can view the full auction catalogue here.

Bianchi race XL EV2 Reparto Corse

Tubing: Columbus Starship, frame number L922
Frame-fork: Bianchi XL EV2 Reparto Corse TDF 2000 paint
Bianchi full carbon XL Crankset
Campagnolo Record 10 speed (170mm 53/39)
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Record 10 speed
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Record 10 speed
Brake Levers/Shifters: Campagnolo Record 10 speed
Brakes: Campagnolo Record
Wheelset: Campagnolo Nucleon
Pedals: Time Equipe Mag Stelo
Stem: ITM Millennium 120mm
Handlebar: ITM Millennium Ergal 7075, 41cm
Seatpost: Campagnolo Record Titanium (27.2mm)
Saddle: Selle Italia Flite ‘Il Pirata’
Tyres: Continental
Bottle cage: Titanium
Handlebar tape: Bianchi cork (original)