Italian bike manufacturer Pinarello fell prey to a double heist of high-end merchandise late last week, as a total of 19 bicycles worth a total of approximately €250,000 were stolen. The bikes were carried away in two separate break-ins, just 20 hours apart, at the Cicli Pinarello signature showroom in Treviso.
In the early morning hours of November 23, reports by La Tribuna di Treviso noted that a van pulled to the side of the building, with several masked individuals cutting a security fence and forcing open a door to the building. Surveillance cameras captured three individuals wearing hoods and gloves who appeared to take just three minutes to remove 12 bicycles before police arrived.
Later that same day at 11 p.m. local time, the news outlet reported that three more individuals were successful in a second robbery. Possibly the same suspects as before, they cut through the same section of fence, repaired from the early-morning robbery, and forced open the same door. This time they got away with seven of the highest priced items, valued at approximately €14,000 each.
The burglaries took place outside business hours of the showroom, which also serves as administrative offices for the bicycle manufacturer. The models of the bicycles stolen were not disclosed, but were believed to be road bikes.
La Tribuna di Treviso reported that surveillance videos were being reviewed by investigators, with captured images of three suspects who entered the building. A fourth individual was suspected to be involved as the driver of the van.
Both rounds of theft were considered to be made by the same group, as both break-ins were completed quickly and with knowledge of where the higher-priced items were located in the building. A black market for stolen bicycles was noted to be flourishing in Eastern Europe.
In 2021, 22 Pinarello track bikes belonging to the Italian National Team were stolen from a van parked outside their hotel during the UCI World Championships in Roubaix. All the bikes and some of the equipment, with an estimated worth of €600,000, were later recovered in Romania during a large-scale raid of several houses. Among the stolen Pinarello bicycles were four gold bikes used by Filippo Ganna and his gold medal-winning team pursuit teammates.
In 2022, Team SD Worx suffered a mass theft of their Specialized bicycles. Most recently, thefts of bicycles occurred at two European races. After stage 4 of the Tour of Slovenia, the van of Euskaltel-Euskadi was stolen, which contained all their Orbea bikes and Vision wheels, and the team could not compete in the final stage. At the Baloise Belgium Tour, bicycles and wheels of the Baloise Trek Lions squad were stolen and they were not able to complete the race.
