Tadej Pogačar announces auction of diamond-encrusted shoes worn on final stage of Tour de France

This article originally appeared on Velo News

Double Tour de France champion and 2022 runner-up Tadej Pogacar has announced plans to auction a pair of diamond-encrusted cycling shoes he wore during the final stage of this year's Tour.

The DMT-created shoes feature 138 natural black diamonds which are said to have a total karat weight of 3.62 karats.

According to Monday's announcement, 85% of the auction proceeds will go directly to the Tadej Pogacar Cancer Foundation.

This foundation was announced during the Tour de France and has a number of stated goals, including prioritizing "the most innovative concepts in cancer metabolism," plus the funding of multiple research groups around the world "with the aim to develop novel diagnosis and therapeutics to contribute to help finally corner cancer."

Pogacar's coach, the physiologist and cancer researcher Dr. Inigo San-Millan, is co-founder of the foundation. He is a researcher in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and has worked for many years examining the origins of tumors and the progression of cancer as a disease.

San Millan believes that dis-regulated lactate is a key element in cancer formation and tumor progression, and that in addition to helping prevent cancer, that exercise may have beneficial effects in improving outcomes for those with the disease.

Monday's announcement states that the winner of the auction will receive the shoes plus a related NFT.

More information about the auction and bidding is at this link.

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