Team Sky have their bikes stolen before race
Team Sky have been forced to borrow bikes from their rivals in order to take part in this weekend’s Tour du Haut Var after having 16 of their own stolen on the eve of the race.
The mechanics awoke this morning to find the team’s support vehicle had been broken into at the hotel in Trans-en-Provence.
Sky have sent a youthful team to the two-day race in the south of France, but their participation was thrown into doubt after a theft of team equipment.
“Team Sky will ride the Tour du Haut Var despite having bikes stolen. Thanks to other teams for loaning replacements!” the team said in a Tweet.
Team Sky will ride the Tour du Haut Var despite having bikes stolen. Thanks to other teams for loaning replacements! Full story to follow...
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) February 22, 2014
Team coach Shaun Stephens said: "The thieves took all the bikes, bar two, and we presume they only left those because they’d run out of space in whatever transport they were using. They also took some of the spare training wheels, and various bits of other equipment.
“We’re still able to take part in the race though and seven of our eight riders will be riding team-issue Pinarellos. The two that were left in the van are going to be used and we managed to source five others from our training house in Nice, which is about an hour away from where we’re staying."
“The remaining bike we’ve been able to borrow from the Bretagne – Seche Environnement team, who we’ve been sharing our hotel with. That was a really nice gesture from them and we appreciate it a lot. Things like that really show the spirit of cycling and we can’t thank them enough."
With Tour de France winner Chris Froome at the Tour of Oman, and Sir Bradley Wiggins and Richie Porte at the Ruta del Sol in Spain, Sky’s squad in France features the likes of Ian Boswell, Nathan Earle, and Josh Edmondson.
