Plugge shares update after Visma | LaB falls victim to bike theft: "Several bikes found in the bushes"

So there's a double stain on the otherwise strong start for the Killer Bees. The crash was already serious, the entire team went down on a wet roundabout. Team leader Vingegaard was able to continue quickly and even gave a thumbs-up, but Axel Zingle wasn’t as lucky. His shoulder dislocated twice. Although it was reset and he managed to cross the finish line, on Monday it was decided he wasn’t fit to continue the Vuelta.

A bitter pill to swallow, but the bad news didn’t end there. “Last night, our mechanics’ truck was broken into and several bikes were stolen,” Visma | Lease a Bike announced on social media. “Our mechanics are working hard to ensure the team is ready for stage 3. The police have launched an investigation into the incident.” The team did not disclose the full extent of the damage.

But the Italian media seem to know more. Tuttobiciweb reports that no fewer than 18 bikes were stolen. The total damage is estimated at a staggering €250,000. It’s a massive blow for the Dutch team, which is now scrambling to find a solution. A similar incident happened to Cofidis during the Tour de France, and they eventually managed to recover.

Meanwhile, HLN reports that three bikes have already been recovered. The bikes were apparently found in the bushes next to the hotel. A small stroke of luck, but the rest of the steel steeds are still missing.

Continue reading below...

Before the start of Stage 3, team boss Richard Plugge gave an update about the theft. “It’s definitely bad news,” the Dutchman said with a pained smile. “The truck was broken into and bikes were stolen. We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a police investigation this morning, definitely not how you want to start the day. Especially not after such a successful day yesterday.”

“Our staff did an amazing job getting the bikes we needed ready,” Plugge continued. “Luckily, we have enough bikes to race. I should also mention we’re staying in the same hotel as Movistar and Trek. Both teams were kind enough to help us out with some work. It’s great to see that kind of collaboration between teams. So we’re good to go for today, no issues there.”

“Jonas’ bikes are still here, thankfully, so those required the least work,” he added. “But we had to rebuild the others from scratch. The riders will need to double-check everything, since it was all thrown together in a big rush this morning. Our mechanics really did a fantastic job.”

It was far from an ideal situation. “The police are investigating, and we as teams really need to start thinking about how to better secure our equipment. Apparently, the race organizers don’t provide any security here.” Plugge confirmed that some bikes were indeed recovered. “Yes, a few bikes were found in the bushes. I don’t know why they left those behind, but we did recover several. That’s very good news for us.”