Blazin' Saddles: Merckx, Contador and a tale of two jerseys

As part of the Rouleur Classic expo in London this weekend (19-21 November) nine jerseys worn by five-time Tour de France winner Merckx will be on display.

The collection - which belongs to Californian cycling memorabilia guru Brett Horton - includes the Belgian's 1974 Molteni Campagnolo world champion jersey (estimated value $62,000), his 1970 Giro d'Italia Faemino maglia rosa ($35,000) and his 1969 Faema post-Tour de France criterium maillot jaune with rainbow trimmings ($35,000).

The total value of the collection is thought to be worth a staggering $304,000 (£198,426).

This estimated worth is all the more mind-boggling when you consider that a signed Lance Armstrong jersey recently reached a paltry £150 at auction in London.

Of course, Armstrong is now damaged goods - the yellow of his seven Tour de France victories having come out in the wash a long time ago.

Although it would be interesting to see just how much a Merckx jersey from the 1969 Giro - where the Belgian supremo was infamously kicked out of the race in Savona for failing a doping test - would fetch (one suspects it would still be very much in the tens of thousands).

The signed Armstrong jersey in question - from his heady US Postal days - went very much under the radar when it went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London last month.

Indeed, when an English sports memorabilia aficionado recorded the moment the Texan's jersey surpassed its price estimation by 50% in auction - and then posted the results online - eyebrows were raised by none other than the very man himself, in what proved one of the most priceless tweets of the year.

He may no longer have his Tour de France titles (at least, according to the record books) but the American's swift reply showed that Armstrong at least still possesses a wicked sense of humour.

This is the same star who, how can we forget, taunted his critics a few years ago by posting a photo of himself lying on a sofa surrounded by his framed seven yellow jerseys.

Which brings us neatly on to the man who took over the reins at Discovery once Armstrong first hanged up his cycling shoes: Alberto Contador.

When the 32-year-old Spaniard crossed the finish line in Milan to win the Giro in May, he raised three fingers in steely defiance to his critics (Contador's "second" Giro victory in 2011 was overturned following the positive test for clenbuterol during his victory in the previous year's Tour, which was also erased from his palmares by the powers that be).

Indeed, Contador has always been very vocal that his positive test and retrospective ban for "accidental ingestion" of the banned steroid was a royal stitch up, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the Tinkoff rider still has his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro jerseys hanging up on his wall.

He told the Guardian just as much this week in a revealing interview, during which he said that, "without a doubt I've won nine" Grand Tours and not the seven that grace his official stats.

Pointing to the framed jerseys in question on the wall of his Foundation office near his home in Pinto, Contador added, "I won both those races in a clean and honest way. Only with work and sacrifice. I put those up as an example."

People on Twitter were quick to point out the pitfalls in Contador's logic - one of his clean wins having come off the back of rival Michael Rasmussen being kicked off the Tour for a similar indiscretion that would catch up with Contador a few years later.

A subsequent online poll organised by Cyclingnews showed that the public was split pretty much down the middle on Contador's claim - with 51% disagreeing with his assertion that he had bagged nine, and not seven, Grand Tours.

Of course, it's a can of worms that trickles back down to that man Armstrong...

Either way, should Contador's Foundation decide to sell the jerseys in question you can be fairly sure the valuation would come up somewhere between that of the phantom Armstrong signed jersey and the least treasured of the Merckx hoard.

Contador and 70-year-old Merckx can perhaps talk about it this weekend in London at the Rouleur Classic: the Spaniard is also on the illustrious list of speakers. Armstrong, unsurprisingly, isn't.