Bike thieves strike at Tour of Slovenia and Baloise Belgium Tour

Euskaltel-Euskadi and Baloise Trek Lions have been hit by bike thieves at the Tour of Slovenia and Baloise Belgium Tour, with both teams left unable to start Sunday's final stages of the races as a result.

The Basque ProTeam suffered a wipeout of their Obea bike and Vision wheels ahead of the closing stage 5 to Novo Mesto.

The team reported that the van carrying all their bikes has been stolen overnight, leaving their seven-man squad including Txomin Juaristi and Xabier Azparren unable to complete the race.

"Euskaltel-Euskadi has suffered the theft of a vehicle with all its bicycles in it at the Tour of Slovenia," the team announced on Twitter. "So we can't start the fifth and final stage."

The Belgian squad have also suffered the same fate ahead of the 195km stage 5 in Brussels, leaving Lars van der Haar, Joris Nieuwenhuis and teammates unable to race on today.

In a statement issued on Instagram, the team wrote, "Last night we fell victim to a theft of bicycles and wheels. Unfortunately, it is therefore not possible for us to start today in the last stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour. We await the police investigation."

The incidents are far from the first time teams have suffered from mass thefts. Last November, SD Worx fell victim to a burglary of numerous team bikes, while earlier in the year Israel Cycling Academy saw 22 bikes stolen at a training camp in Spain.

In late 2021, Romanian police recovered an estimated €500,000 of gold Pinarellos stolen from Italy's track squad ahead of the Track World Championships, while this February cyclocross rider lost three of his bikes to a burglary.