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GB triathlete’s £4,000 bike stolen from busy London locationCCTV shot of Pinarello theft suspect

GB triathlete’s £4,000 bike stolen from busy London location

Pinarello was left locked up with wheel removed
by Alex Bowden
Sat, Sep 27, 2014 12:21
9

Police are appealing for help after a British triathlete’s bike was stolen from Malet Street in the London Borough of Camden. Jessica Earp’s modified Pinarello, which had been locked up with the front wheel removed, is worth around £4,000

The Camden Safer Transport Team who are investigating the crime have managed to get CCTV footage of the bike being taken. They describe the suspect as being a white man in his early 20s, slim build wearing a light grey jumper, dark grey shorts, a black and silver cycle helmet and a black rucksack.

Earp, who recently competed in the 2014 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Edmonton in Canada, had locked her bike to a rack and removed the front wheel. In the CCTV footage, the man takes a wheel from another parked bike. He then attaches this to the Pinarello, cuts the lock and rides away, leaving behind a bike on which he arrived.

Earp is not the first top rider to suffer the loss of a high-end bike in recent times. In 2013, Team GB track sprinter, Lewis Oliva, managed to recover his stolen Pinarello when it was put up for sale on Facebook, while this year a series of thefts in and around Manchester led Paralympic tandem pilot, Lauryn Therin, to conclude that top riders were actively being targeted by thieves.

In this instance, Malet Street is right near the University College London (UCL) and the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and it could be that thieves are currently operating in what is a major student area at the start of term.

If you have any information, contact PC Cara Newton on 020 8733 6846 or speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

To minimise the chances of your bike being stolen, we recommend taking a look at our bike locking bible – a list of essential bike locking tips.

Bike theft
bicycle theft
'london'
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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9 comments

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fenix | 10 years ago
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Oh jeez - that is awful. Very silly to leave such a pricey bike in a bit of a dodgy area.

I hope they catch the guy - but much better not to put the bike in such a vulnerable place in the first instance.

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DaveE128 | 10 years ago
0 likes

Seems to be a lot of victim blaming going on here 2

I wouldn't want to leave a nice bike locked up in a dodgy area either, but sometimes you don't have so much choice about these things. It's no reason to criticise someone who is a victim of a crime. The person that did the evil thing was the thief. I would have thought most cyclists would be sympathetic not critical.

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AyBee | 10 years ago
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£4k bike locked up on Camden with one lock?! You'd like to think a GB triathlete would know a bit about bike security...I wouldn't leave a £1k bike locked up in London with one lock.

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goggy | 10 years ago
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On the odd occasion when I take my expensive bike into London (when I plan on a long return trip home - circa 60 miles) I lock it in the company underground car park with 2x Level 15 locks. I'm paranoid. The only way they could get it is to cut the frame, which they won't obviously do.

And it's insured.

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Airzound | 10 years ago
0 likes

Same place my Brompton was stolen, Senate House, Malet Street, locked up outside with a Specialised New Yorker D-lock to an Oxford stand right in full view of a CCTV camera while I was inside graduating. Came out after graduating to find only the broken D-lock remained. Firs time ever I was refused entry to a building with it. Cops were not interested one bit and neither was the university. CCTV camera was not working!!!! Fuck 'em. Screwed three times over on this one - by the thief(s) obviously, plod and London University. My Brompton was probably quickly sold on at near by Brick Lane market. I will never ever use Specialised locks ever again. Abus from then on and now.

Who in their right mind rides around London on a £4k bike and then leaves it unattended albeit locked up???!! Mad.

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MaxP | 10 years ago
0 likes

So the chap left his bike behind, which will have finger prints.

Bit of a none story all the same nothing new with bikes getting stolen at all the price rangers on the market.

If the police can't track the chap down from the details he left behind, they need sacking (that is if he is in there database)

Insurance will no doubt pay out (hopefully it was an approved lock) and the cyclist will be made whole (with maybe a upgraded model)

I'd like to know who was monitoring the CCTV!

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racyrich | 10 years ago
0 likes

I'm not excusing the theft, but who in their right mind does their casual riding on a £4k bike? Get a campus bike!

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don simon fbpe replied to racyrich | 10 years ago
0 likes
racyrich wrote:

I'm not excusing the theft, but who in their right mind does their casual riding on a £4k bike? Get a campus bike!

I guess everything is relative, especially when the Pinarello competition bikes are at £10k+. 4

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tonylen | 10 years ago
0 likes

11 scum-needs his bollocks chopping off-who is buying this stuff though? Surely someone into cycling so much they would but a top of the range Pinarello would be suspicious of a bike like this being offered cheap? Or are they just dismantled and knocked out on Ebay? Scum all round

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