An online fundraiser has been launched after Irish junior rider, Hugh Óg Mulhearne, and one of his AS Villemur Cyclisme team mates had their bikes stole while at a race in Spain.
Though they scrambled to source bikes to ride the event, they were obviously returned to their owners afterwards. And now Mulhearne and his team mate are down two bikes, with an estimated combined value of €15,000.
Facing such a serious set-back, the online fundraiser aims to raise enough cash so the two juniors can replace their race bikes, and crack on with the rest of their season.
The riders were in Spain for the UCI-ranked Trofeu 15 d'Abril one-day race when their bikes were stolen from their hotel room before the event. Shimano neutral service was in place, because the race had UCI ranking, and so both riders managed to get bikes from that neutral service set-up.
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Indeed, Mulhearne bounced back very well on the day and went on the attack for 40-50km of the 131km race, which was televised in Spain. He has since gone on to win the junior classification at Dornan Rás Mumhan over Easter.
However, admirable as those performances were, they won't pay for a new bike for Mulhearne or his team mate. And so their French team has set up the fundraiser, which you can access at this link.
Already 27 donors have chipped in with €1,240, so the two young juniors have begun to receive support from the cycling community, though obviously more is needed.
Mulhearne's bike - pictured above - was a 55cm Bianchi Specialissima Pro Ultegra. It was fitted with Ultegra 50mm carbon wheels, with a 4iii Dura Ace power meter crank also on the bike. So if you see it being offered for sale online, let us know.
