Michael O’Loughlin on his way to U23 road race gold at the recent National Road Championships (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Irish road champion’s Team Wiggins bike stolen
Irish U23 road race and TT champion Michael O’Loughlin has had one of his road bikes stolen.
The bike, which he uses as his spare road racing bike, was part of consignment of kit stolen from his team at the weekend.
O’Loughlin, from Carrick-on-Suir, was in Wales to ride the Velothon pro race when the theft occurred.
Bikes and wheels valued at about £60,000 by the team – approximately €75,000 – were taken. They were lifted from a vehicle outside the Cardiff hotel they were staying in.
Mechanic Steve Edwards told BBC Wales a Bolide TT bike and three spare Pinarello Dogma F10 road race bikes, including O’Loughlin’s, were taken.
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About 10 sets of Zipp 404 wheels were also taken when the back window of the team van was smashed and the vehicle emptied.
The theft occurred sometime between 7.30pm on Saturday and 8am on Sunday.
Edwards discovered the robbery when he went to check the vehicles and kit early on Sunday morning in preparation for the race that day.
He believe the bikes were so unique, with Team Wiggins livery, that they would be hard to sell. And he also said many people in the cycling community would recognise them if offered them.
The riders competed in the race despite the incident. But Edwards said the riders whose spare bikes were taken knew they were out of the race if they crashed.
“The bikes are very specific to the riders. They are racing on them week-in-week-out, they can't just jump on any bike,” he said.
"They are team bikes, they are the same, but the frames are measured differently, set up differently. Some of the riders are 6ft 2in."
South Wales Police were made aware of the crime and are investigating it.
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