Bicycles swiped from Team Cofidis post-Tour de France heist in France
The recent bike theft targeting the Cofidis Women's team at the Baloise Ladies Tour has sparked an ongoing investigation. The incident occurred in Bruges, where several team-issue Look bikes were stolen from a Cofidis Women’s team truck parked outside the team hotel just before the start of the Tour, a Dutch-Belgian stage race.
Despite the theft, the team was able to participate in the prologue time trial using spare bikes, and they are currently working on procuring replacement road bikes for the subsequent stages. The police are actively involved in the investigation, though no official updates on the recovery of the stolen bikes have been provided.
The theft is a follow-up to a similar incident that occurred less than two weeks ago at the Tour de France, where 11 team-issue Look bikes were stolen from Cofidis' equipment truck during the race in Lille. All the bikes stolen during the Tour de France have since been recovered: five were found near the team's hotel, and the remaining bikes were discovered in Halluin, near the Belgian border.
Arthur Quilliec, the team manager, confirmed the theft, stating that several Look bikes were stolen, though he did not disclose the exact number, citing the ongoing investigation. He also mentioned that the theft of expensive bikes is becoming a recurring issue.
Cofidis is working on a solution for Friday's road stage at the Baloise Ladies Tour. The team's efforts to prevent such incidents and their ongoing collaboration with law enforcement have been emphasized by both Quilliec and another Cofidis manager, Cédrick Vasseur.
Meanwhile, Zoe Bäckstedt of Great Britain's Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto won the opening stage, a prologue against the clock, and took the race lead. The Baloise Ladies Tour continues on Thursday with a 127.2km parcours to Knokke-Heist in Belgium.
Our website has reached out to Cofidis for the latest updates on the bike theft at the Baloise Ladies Tour. Each stolen bike was valued at around €13,000 (£11,200). As the investigation progresses, we will continue to provide updates on this developing story.
The Cofidis Women's team is currently exploring options for new e-bikes to ensure their participation in future stages after the recent theft. Both road bikes and e-bikes have experienced theft, indicating a sports equipment target by thieves.
