Stolen Tour de France bikes found near Belgium

Eleven bikes stolen from team Cofidis at the Tour de France have all now been found.

In the night following Saturday’s opening stage, the door of the team’s equipment truck was forced open and 11 Look bikes – valued at around €13,000 (£11,200) each – were taken.

According to the team, some of their staff combed the area near their hotel on Sunday, and were able to find five of the stolen bikes, “which had been thrown away by the criminals in undergrowth”.

The remaining bikes were found by the police on Monday afternoon near the border with Belgium.

“The police have told [Tour de France organisers] ASO and team Cofidis that the bikes were recovered in the town of Halluin, near the Belgian border. The police officers got in touch with Cofidis in order to return them to the team staff during the evening,” the team wrote in a press statement.

“The team wants to thank everyone – members of law enforcement, ASO, the staff and sponsors of Cofidis – who have rallied together since yesterday morning.”

Among the stolen bikes was a special one prepared for stage one’s King of the Mountains leader, Benjamin Thomas.

Cofidis's squad were able to start stage two on Sunday using their spare bikes, of which all riders have at least two.

The team's bike supplier, Look, opened its factory on Sunday to prepare bikes with an identical paintjob to those used by the squad at the Tour de France. One brand employee drove the new frames 470km on Monday morning to Cofidis’s hotel at the Tour. The team also ordered new Campagnolo groupsets from Italy.

Commenting on the return of the stolen bikes, Cofidis manager Cédric Vasseur said: “I’d like to warmly congratulate the Tour de France organisers and the police who did everything possible to find them. A huge amount of investigative work has been carried out, which will enable us to continue the Tour de France with peace of mind.”

At last year's Tour, another French squad also fell victim to an overnight bike theft. TotalEnergies had 11 Enve bikes stolen from their team hotel in the middle of the race, but were able to start the following stage.