The Bianchi bike that Marco Pantani used in his last Tour de France in 2000 to beat Lance Armstrong to the summit of Mount Ventoux sold at auction for €66,000.

Italian national team coach Davide Cassani, backed by a group of Italian businessmen, bid on a number of collectors, including an Italian Serie A soccer player who requested anonymity.

Bianchi's second bike, prepared for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, sold for €46,000, while the pink jerseys and other trophies and paintings collected a total of €161,000.

All bikes and objects were provided by the Mercatone Uno museum. Mercatone Uno, an Italian housewares chain that had sponsored Pantani for most of his career, had recently gone bankrupt.

Pantani used a Bianchi bike in the 2000 Tour de France, battling with Lance Armstrong in Mont Ventoux. To avoid a clash with the race leader's maillot jaune, the pink color of the Mercatone Uno was used instead of the usual yellow.

Pantani died on February 14, 2004, locked in a Rimini hotel room under the influence of cocaine and antidepressants; the 1998 Giro and Tour winner suffered greatly from substance abuse and mental health-related problems after being disqualified for high hematocrit levels in the 1999 Giro. He suffered greatly.

Italian auction house Bolaffi said it would forego its usual commission of 25% of the winning bid if the bike were to be donated to the Pantani Museum, now run by his family in Cesenatico. The final price of 66,000 euros was more than double the expected price.

"The idea is to donate the bike to the museum on January 13, Marco's birthday," Cassani told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"We're going to donate it to the Pantani Museum so people can see it. I have to thank my friends who helped fund the auction. Without them, it would have been impossible to fetch such a high price."