Who paid €95,100 for Pogacar’s skinsuit? Meet the collector who forgot he even bid

Yet weeks later, the jersey fetched a remarkable €95,100 at auction. And behind that winning bid is not a museum or corporate collector, but an individual fan: American CEO Karl McDonell.

His connection to the sport, however, is relatively recent. Although he has “been cycling for many, many years,” it was only in 2019 that his interest deepened. Before that, he said, speaking to Domestique, “I didn’t know anything about cycling… I had heard of the Tour de France, never watched it… I was clueless.” 

That changed quickly after watching a single stage: “I watched a stage of the Tour de France, and I don’t know, I just got hooked.”

The stage he refers to was the historic moment when Tadej Pogačar stunned the cycling world by taking control on La Planche des Belles Filles. McDonell recalls thinking, “Who is this kid?… wow,” before deciding to follow Pogačar more closely.

That interest eventually turned into something more personal during a charity ride through Europe, where he unexpectedly found himself seated across from Pogačar at dinner. 

Any nerves quickly disappeared. “He could not have been nicer, super engaging, very humble, just a great guy,” McDonell recalls. In his view, Pogačar is “arguably the greatest ever… yet humble, likable, makes time for fans,” which makes him “a hard guy not to root for.”

By the time the Milan-San Remo skinsuit went up for auction, McDonell was already a collector, having previously secured Pogačar’s white jersey from the 2023 Tour de France. Even so, he initially stayed on the sidelines. “I thought, somebody’s gonna be really happy with that,” he says, knowing it would “fetch a fairly large number.”

It was only at the last moment that he decided to act. On the eve of Paris Roubaix, “I was like, well, maybe I should put a bid in,” placing what he thought “might clear the market.” The next day, fully absorbed in the racing, he forgot about it entirely. “I was so into the race… I had forgotten that I had even put that bid in.”

The realisation came later. “When I went to look at it, I realised I had won… it was very cool,” he says, still sounding slightly surprised.

Part of the appeal lies in the condition of the skinsuit itself. Rather than pristine, it carries the full story of the race. “It’s just as it was that day… it’s got the numbers still pinned on the back, it’s got all the dirt, it’s ripped open, his teammates all signed it,” McDonell explains.

The jersey will soon take its place in his collection. “I can’t wait to get it framed, and I’ll put it next to the Tour de France white jersey that I have,” he says, turning the moment into something permanent.

Still, the purchase was never purely about collecting. With Pogačar matching the winning bid, the proceeds will go to his foundation, something McDonell values highly. “It’s a lot of money, but it’s for a great cause,” he says, adding that he is “thrilled to have made a big donation like that… that’ll go a long way.”

Later this year, he will meet Tadej Pogačar again at the Pogi Challenge in Slovenia, where the Slovenian superstar will once again set off behind the participants and attempt to hunt them down one by one. McDonell is realistic about what will happen on the climb. “That won’t be me… I will easily be caught and then passed,” he says, though “it’ll still be fun” because “you get to ride with him.”

Looking ahead, he hopes his involvement can extend beyond a single purchase. “I’d like to help he and his foundation raise more money… particularly over here in the United States,” he says, noting that “it’s just not the thing in America that it is in Europe, cycling. And it should be.”

For someone who once described himself as “clueless” about the sport, it marks a striking evolution, from casual viewer to collector of one of cycling’s most remarkable artefacts. As he puts it, with some understatement: “the whole thing was cool.”