Romanian police have recovered 21 of the 22 Italian national team bikes stolen from a hotel car park while the team was competing at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Roubaix last weekend.
The authorities initially ordered an action to “combat trafficking and illicit use of high-risk drugs and to identify stolen goods by members of the criminal group”. Upon raiding 14 properties in Vrancea County, police found the Italian team’s bikes, as well as mobile phones, drugs and around £5,000 worth of cash.
Filippo Ganna’s gold painted Pinarello was one of the bikes seen in police pictures. The team’s minibus, ready to return the bikes worth an estimated £500,000 to Italy, was raided by thieves on Friday evening.
Along with Ganna’s machine, fellow newly-crowned team pursuit world champions Liam Bertazzo, Jonathan Milan and Simone Consonni’s bikes, each worth £25,000 and featuring a titanium 3D-printed handlebar alone worth £8,500, were taken.
> Italian national team bikes stolen at UCI Track Cycling World Championships
Police said they believed the theft was a professional operation undertaken by a gang who knew which van to break into, despite security at the hotel. The head of the Italian delegation Roberto Amadio said the team feared for their security before the trip, so opted for a hotel with a private, monitored car park.
“Evidently, even these measures didn’t stop the perpetrators,” Amadio told La Gazzetta dello Sport after the break in.
Romanian police confirmed that four people remain in custody and will appear at Vrancea Court with a proposal for pre-trial detention.




















9 thoughts on “Romanian police recover Italian team bikes stolen from UCI Track Cycling World Championships”
Romania you say? hmmmm
Romania you say? hmmmm
Yeah. All thieves come from
Yeah. All thieves come from Romania don’t they?
Nice bit of Causual racism,
Nice bit of Causual racism, FFS!
joe9090 wrote:
Your sentiment escapes me. Care to spell out what you mean?
Please, give more detail on
Please, give more detail on this. If you’re going to be racist at least commit to it rather than this dog whistle nonsense. Have courage in your (terrible) convictions.
‘pre-trial detention’ – that
‘pre-trial detention’ – that sounds like a nice comfortable place to go to.
What where they thinking? Sure take Ganna’s bike and somebody rich will buy it and keep it hidden to look at whenever they feel like it. But to take 20! Sell maybe, one or two tops before they all get caught and arrested.
Video of the bikes. https:/
Video of the bikes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql6S1PaSO1I
highly organised thieves,
highly organised thieves, travel across half the continent, steal a load of top end track bikes (is there a big market for these?) before stashing them in a warehouse raided by the police for other issues.
not quite as organised as they should be.
The police haul included 10
The police haul included 10 mobile phones, drugs, 8 TV’s, €2,800 in cash and the 20 odd bikes. 20 people were arrested…..Clearly, Romania trying to start a cycling team, on the track, but the training bikes were road bikes, right?
TV’s and Phones to run Zwift, Drugs…well, of course, it’s cycling and the cash was for the turbo trainers they had planned to buy…