Million Dollar Bike Heist for Tour de France Team

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-tour-de-france-mi...

chicagotribune.com

Tour de France team loses $1 million worth of bikes in burglary

Bloomberg

12:28 PM CST, November 27, 2013

Thieves stole more than 100 bikes worth almost $1 million from Italy’s Lampre-Merida cycling team, throwing preparations for next season into disarray, a company spokesman said.

The bikes, worth at least 7,000 euros ($9,500) each, were stolen from the team’s headquarters near Milan last weekend, the team said. The bikes, which come from Merida’s Warp TT, Scultura SL and Ride Pro brands, are painted black, lime green and purple. Two cars, office equipment and cycling parts including Fulcrum-brand wheels, Selle saddles and mechanical components were also taken.

Burglars “broke in by destroying the alarm system, telephone system and internet connection, then continued on to clear the warehouse and team vehicles of all valued material,” the company said.

Riders were scheduled to gather Dec. 5 so the team could start testing the cycles in preparation for next season, spokesman Andrea Appiani said in a telephone interview. That will no longer happen.

“The main task now is to have some bikes ready for early January when races start,” Appiani said.

He added that the full extent of the loss is still being assessed by police, and that burglars also raided the headquarters in 2007.

Lampre rider Diego Ulissi won races including Milano-Torino this year, and team cyclists have also won the Giro d’Italia in previous seasons. Current general manager Giuseppe Saronni won the Giro in 1979 and 1983.

Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC

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Permalink Reply by Andy J on November 27, 2013 at 4:25pm
I'm just surprised this didn't happen in Chicago, the "bike theft capital of the world"

:-)
Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on November 27, 2013 at 4:49pm

I kind of doubt Chicago has 100+ $9500 custom made carbon racing bikes within its borders.

Permalink Reply by Andy J on November 28, 2013 at 2:51am

It may have some now!

Thunder Snow said:

I kind of doubt Chicago has 100+ $9500 custom made carbon racing bikes within its borders.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on November 28, 2013 at 4:50am

I see what you did there.

h' 1.0 said:

The Chicago version:

Thieves stole more than 100 bikes worth almost $1 million, along with 600 lbs of luxurious marinated meat, throwing preparations for next racing and BBQ season into disarray, a company spokesman said.

Permalink Reply by Michael A on November 28, 2013 at 3:26pm

I would gladly wager on this.

Thunder Snow said:

I kind of doubt Chicago has 100+ $9500 custom made carbon racing bikes within its borders.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on November 28, 2013 at 3:57pm

Nope, I'm not betting on this--I'm not at all connected to the Chicago pro bike racing community, if such a thing even exists, I'm just a schlub who rides a Divvy a few miles each way from the Metra station to work and back. I don't know anyone who owns even one $9500 bike, much less 100 folks who do, but I'll take your word on it that uber-expensive bikes are all over town.  I'd love to see or ride such a bike someday.

Michael A said:

I would gladly wager on this.

Permalink Reply by Michael A on November 28, 2013 at 7:20pm

Easily, think of all the racers and triathletes who spend $2000 to $5000 on just carbon fiber wheels, I would think there are more then 100 bikes in Chicago proper that retail over $20,000.

Permalink Reply by grayn8 on November 29, 2013 at 2:01am
You could contact xxx racing and see if they'd do a survey monkey of their cat 1 and 2 riders. Go with the other clubs and do the same, but I wonder how many folks would be outside the city limits and how you would go about fact checking stuff. It would be interesting to know. I think there probably are a lot of bikes on Chicago pavement that cost over 5k, but 9.5k...I don't know. Let's find out!
Permalink Reply by Michael A on November 29, 2013 at 4:40am
Howard is technically correct, there are only a handful of companies who make carbon frames in "custom" sizes. The Merida bikes that were stolen were not custom frames, just painted in the team livery colors. So to say there are 100 true custom made carbon frames in Chicago is wrong. I know there are over 100 carbon framed bikes that cost over $9500, some over $20,000.
Permalink Reply by Marcus Moore on November 29, 2013 at 5:16am

Most of the Chicago people I know, with 10K bikes, don't race them.  Many of those people own multiples.  (I don't know many)

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