logo
Cofidis recovers all 11 stolen bikes at Tour de France

Cofidis recovers all 11 stolen bikes at Tour de France

New Straits Times19 hours ago
DUNKIRK, (France): Eleven bicycles belonging to Cofidis, stolen overnight before the second stage of the Tour de France, have been recovered, the team's general manager Cedric Vasseur said on Monday following the third stage of the race.
"I had Christian Prudhomme (the Tour's director) on the phone during the stage. He was with the prefect to tell us that the bikes had been found in the afternoon", Vasseur told France TV after the conclusion of the third stage.
The team had earlier reported that five of the 11 bikes had been recovered.
"Some of the staff combed the area and managed to get their hands on five bicycles, which had been thrown away by the criminals in undergrowth near the hotel", the team said in a press release.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Cycling-Pogacar beats Van der Poel to win Tour stage four in 100th career victory
Cycling-Pogacar beats Van der Poel to win Tour stage four in 100th career victory

The Star

time5 hours ago

  • The Star

Cycling-Pogacar beats Van der Poel to win Tour stage four in 100th career victory

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 4 - Amiens to Rouen - Rouen, France - July 8, 2025 UAE Team Emirates XRG's Tadej Pogacar celebrates winning stage 4 REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier FRANCE (Reuters) -Reigning champion Tadej Pogacar overtook race leader Mathieu van der Poel just before the line to win stage four of the Tour de France on Tuesday, and is now level at the top of the general classification after earning his 100th career victory. The 174.2km ride from Amiens to Rouen came down to a sprint finish between the top three in the overall standings, with the Slovenian world champion getting the better of the Dutchman, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) coming in third. A breakaway group of four riders -- Lenny Martinez, Jonas Abrahamsen, Thomas Gachignard and Kasper Asgreen -- got away early but the peloton, led by Van der Poel's Alpecin-Deceuninck team, kept them well within reach. The action was always going to come in the closing 50km, with five categorised climbs packed into the finale, and Martinez was the last to be caught with 20km remaining, shortly after a crash had brought down several riders in the bunch. Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates took control at the front coming to the penultimate climb, before Visma-Lease a Bike took over, pushing hard on the descent, as anticipation grew for a late attack. When it came on the final climb, it was the expected break from Pogacar, but he was unable to shake off two-times champion Vingegaard, and the pair were joined by five other riders, including Van der Poel, to set up a high-stakes finish. Van der Poel went first, looking for his second stage win in three days, but Pogacar had the legs to overtake before the line, and made up the four seconds which separated the pair overall thanks to the stage win bonus. (Reporting by Trevor StynesEditing by Christian Radnedge)

Belgian Merlier wins crash-marred Tour de France dash to Dunkirk
Belgian Merlier wins crash-marred Tour de France dash to Dunkirk

New Straits Times

time18 hours ago

  • New Straits Times

Belgian Merlier wins crash-marred Tour de France dash to Dunkirk

DUNKIRK, (France): Belgian Tim Merlier pipped Italian Jonathan Milan right at the line to win stage three of the Tour de France at Dunkirk on Monday, as Mathieu van der Poel retained the race lead. The stage was marred by a series of falls, but the two favourites for the title Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finished safely in the main pack and remain in second and third place overall behind Van der Poel. The flat 179km run from Valenciennes along the Belgian border was marked above all by a nasty fall that caused Jasper Philipsen to quit with severe grazing and a suspected fracture. The fall happened during an intermediate sprint 60km away from Dunkirk and ripped the green best sprinter's jersey from Philipsen's back as he slid along the road in the 70kph crash. Much of what Philipsen's team Alpecin had planned for the Tour revolved around the sprinter, team-mate Van der Poel revealed. "It's always one of our goals to win stages so this is a bad day," the 30-year-old said. Van der Poel suggested the wind had emboldened the sprinters. "In a head wind it's easier to come from behind in the sprints, it made things more chaotic," he said. There were three more falls, including two nasty looking ones in the finale with Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, Merlier's teammate, involved. Merlier, 32, grew up just over the border from Dunkirk and had been hoping to win the opening stage on Sunday (July 6). "That was a mess," Merlier said of the falls. "I lost a great deal of energy getting in position but it was a good bike throw. I knew I'd beat Milan." Lidl-Trek's Milan led over most of the final 150m, but even without sealing the stage win his efforts were still rewarded as he inherited the green sprint points jersey from the stricken Philipsen. Van der Poel in the leader's yellow jersey is the grandson of French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who came second in the Tour de France seven times, but never won and never got to don the yellow tunic. Another Belgian, the national champion Tim Wellens, gave cross-border fans even more to celebrate as he won the day's only climb, the 2.3km ascent of Mont Cassel at 31km from the finish line. The 34-year-old will now hold the king of the mountains polka dot jersey overnight. Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin is in the best under-25's rider's white jersey afer staying in the finishing mix in all three stages. Regional police said one million spectators had lined the roadsides on the opening day, and while rain dissuaded that kind of turnout for stage two, huge crowds turned out again for the run to Dunkirk. The eleven bikes stolen from outside the Cofidis team hotel early Sunday were all found before the stage's end — five of them were recovered abandoned in a forest early Monday with the others being tracked down by the police later in the day. Today's (July 8) fourth stage is a 174km run from Amiens, as the Tour leaves the North region, to Rouen in Normandy, with five hills in the final 25km designed to spark a series of race-splitting attacks. The first section of the Tour is raced through the north and west of France. The volcanic landscape of the Puy de Dome presents the first mountains as late as stage 10, with two more colossal climb days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps. — AFP

Cofidis recovers all 11 stolen bikes at Tour de France
Cofidis recovers all 11 stolen bikes at Tour de France

New Straits Times

time19 hours ago

  • New Straits Times

Cofidis recovers all 11 stolen bikes at Tour de France

DUNKIRK, (France): Eleven bicycles belonging to Cofidis, stolen overnight before the second stage of the Tour de France, have been recovered, the team's general manager Cedric Vasseur said on Monday following the third stage of the race. "I had Christian Prudhomme (the Tour's director) on the phone during the stage. He was with the prefect to tell us that the bikes had been found in the afternoon", Vasseur told France TV after the conclusion of the third stage. The team had earlier reported that five of the 11 bikes had been recovered. "Some of the staff combed the area and managed to get their hands on five bicycles, which had been thrown away by the criminals in undergrowth near the hotel", the team said in a press release.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store