After having all 14 of their bikes stolen at the Tour of Britain Women, LifePlus-Wahoo’s continued participation in the race was plunged into doubt ahead of stage 2.
The British Continental Team were forced to search for a solution to make the start in Wrexham which was scheduled for 11:15 local time. However, thanks to the generosity of the peloton, with other teams providing spare bikes and mechanics offering their time, they have been able to take the start.
“We woke this morning to find all 14 of our Ribble Endurance SLR bikes stolen from our mechanic's van,” read a statement from the team on X, formerly Twitter. “We are hoping to find a solution to enable us to start in Wrexham today.”
This initial statement was posted at 8:10 am but just two hours later, they were on stage for the team presentation and ready to take on stage 2 with a concoction of bikes from the peloton.
“Wrexham we are here. All of our thanks and appreciation goes out to the many teams that offered and gave their spare team bikes and their mechanics time to get our girls on the road,” said LifePlus-Wahoo. “We wouldn’t be starting without them!”
“Thankfully our amazing community has rallied around and with the help of several rival teams were are able to take the start this morning,” said Co-Team Director and co-founder Bob Varney after describing the initial incident as “an absolute hammer blow to our over-achieving team already on a stretched budget”.
“BUT please help us track them down by sharing the story far and wide - thank you!”
With their dark green Ribble road bikes unavailable for use, the team were pictured at the start on a mix of Factor, Liv and Look bikes from teams VolkerWessels, Liv AlUla Jayco and Cofidis in an update from the Tour of Britain’s social media.
“Thanks to the generous support of other teams in the peloton, LifePlus Wahoo will start today’s stage in Wrexham,” read a post from the race on X, formerly Twitter.
LifePlus-Wahoo will start stage 2 with Babette van der Wolf as their best-placed rider overall in 22nd.
Cyclingnews has reached out to LifePlus Wahoo for further comment.
Similar incidents in recent years have seen the likes of SD Worx and the Italian Track Cycling team have their bikes stolen.
