Bicycles Worth €150,000 Stolen from TotalEnergies Team Truck During Tour de France
The TotalEnergies team yesterday discovered that 11 of their Tour de France race bikes had been stolen overnight in Lorient.
The French team reported the theft to local police, with the 11 bikes reportedly valued at €150,000. The mechanic's toolboxes were also stolen, making it difficult for the team to assemble replacement bikes.
The thieves reportedly broke into the TotalEnergies mechanic's truck. Anthony Turgis and several other cyclists were stolen, and stage 9 winner Turgis no longer has a spare bike.
The TotalEnergies team could count on the help of other teams to meet their needs during stage 12. However, the TotalEnergies team cars only had four bikes and a few spare wheels on their racks during the first parts of the stage.
Now, new frames, components and tools are being transported to the Tour de France by TotalEnergies Race Service from the neighbouring Vendée region in south-west France.
"It's part of the competition, but it's a bit annoying. It doesn't affect the cyclists. We have standard frames and components. It's especially difficult for mechanics because of the stolen tools," Jean-René Bernodo, sport director, explained to the French media.
Uno-X Mobility and Israel-Premier Tech were staying at the same hotel, but were not targeted by the bike thieves. According to a tourist who was sleeping in a camper nearby, an alarm went off in the car at night.
The Tour de France is the largest cycling race in the world, which has been held in France annually for several days since 1903 on the country's roads. The idea of creating a multi-day race on the roads of France in 1902 was submitted by the journalist of L'Auto magazine, Joët Lefebvre, and approved and implemented by the editor of the magazine, Henri Desgrange. Initially, the Tour de France was invented to advertise and increase the circulation of L'Auto. And, I must say, this move worked - the number of subscribers doubled after the first race in 1903 and continued to grow.