Less than 24 hours after a thief walked off with a Specialized Shiv time trial bike belonging to American Evelyn Stevens at the UCI Road World Championships, the local Richmond police have recovered the machine and returned it to its rightful owner.
The Richmond PD announced the find on Twitter, writing, "The stolen bicycle will race again! RPD officers recovered it an hour ago undamaged and returned it to the team."
Stevens replied, "@RichmondPolice thank you for finding my bike, I greatly appreciate it!"
Stevens is due to compete in the team time trial on Sunday with her Boels Dolmans team before taking on the individual time trial with Team USA on Tuesday, before the road race on Saturday.
Gaviria out of U23 Worlds with knee injury
Fernando Gaviria has been ruled out of the UCI Road World Championships due to a knee injury sustained at the Tour of Britain.
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The 21-year-old Colombian has enjoyed a breakthrough season in which he has beaten the likes of Mark Cavendish – now his teammate at Etixx-QuickStep – in the Tour de San Luis and André Greipel in Britain. He would have been one of the favourites for victory in the U23 road race next Friday but the Colombian Federation has confirmed that he won’t be taking to the start line.
"For the past week we’ve had a lot of bad news…riders with illnesses, injuries, low on resources. Fernando injured himself at the Tour of Britain and has not been able to recover," said Colombia coach Carlos Mario Jaramillo.
"Today he called us and told us no – that the doctor told him that it is still inflamed, so it’s better to stop for a while."
Gaviria’s replacement is 19-year-old Alvaro Jose Hodeg Chagui, another fast young rider with track pedigree, who was chosen primarily due to the fact he was the only back-up rider who held a visa and was able to travel to the USA.
The team will now put their resources behind Jonathan Restrepo.
Extensions for Monfort and Van der Sande at Lotto Soudal
Lotto-Soudal have announced two new contract extensions as their roster for 2016 continues to take shape. Maxime Monfort has signed a two-year deal and Tosh Van der Sande a one-year deal.
Monfort, 32, is currently in his second year with the Belgian team and has really found his feet this campaign, riding to 11th overall at the Giro d’Italia.
"Last season it took some time to adapt to racing in a Belgian team after I had raced for foreign teams for several years. This year I really found my place within the Lotto Soudal team and I feel at home. It’s the best choice for my career to stay two more years," said Monfort in a team statement.
"At the Giro I could live up to the expectations as GC rider. I still want to set a good overall result in one of the Grand Tours myself. When I have a good preparation, I am convinced that top ten is definitely still possible for me. Within the team we have spoken about giving me a role as road captain in the future, a role in which I will pass on my experience to a GC rider like Bart De Clercq and our young riders like Louis Vervaeke."
Van der Sande, just 24 years of age, has been with Lotto-Soudal since turning pro in 2012. He confirmed his promise at the Vuelta a Espana, where he recorded five top-10 stage finishes.
"I’m looking back on the Vuelta with a positive feeling. I set some nice top ten results – only the victory was missing. That would have been the icing on the cake. I was close a few times. At the Vuelta I realised I had set a step forward… [and] I am very pleased I can stay another year," he said.
"This boosts my confidence for the upcoming races. When I get that first victory my confidence will be even bigger."
