A brazen, daylight theft of a race bike used by the British club team Jakroo Handsling Racing was caught on camera on a quiet street in southwest London on Friday.
One of the race bikes was ripped from the roof rack of a team manager's car and a second bike was destroyed and left dangling from the vehicle.
A person in the neighborhood captured part of the robbery, which showed two individuals, concealed by black apparel and helmets, speeding away on a moped with one of the red carbon fibre bikes in hand.
Not shown on camera was a confrontation between one of the managers of the British elite development team and one of the suspects, who, the social media post said, "brandished a large knife and threatened them (off camera)".
"Today at 2:55pm, two thieves in balaclavas on a moped stole our team bikes directly off a locked roof rack in a residential street in Putney. One of them jumped onto the team manager’s car and physically ripped the bikes off the locked rack, while the other waited on the moped (with a license plate PK24 EXD)," the Instagram post read.
"Police have been informed. This wasn’t overnight theft. This was broad daylight, in a residential street, in front of witnesses.
"A neighbour captured video of the incident, which we are sharing here in the hope that we raise awareness and push efforts to improve safety on our streets and safety for cyclists."
The team asked that the post be shared so that police can find the suspects, but also to increase awareness of recent crime in the metropolitan area.
"If you have any information or recognise the individuals, please contact us or the Metropolitan Police. Bike theft in London has become organised and brazen. Today it crossed the line into violent robbery. Senseless really, when you realise how much damage the bikes sustained as they were in the process of being stolen."
Thefts aren't limited to amat last year's Tour de France, 11 bikes were taken from the Cofidis team truck before stage 2. A month later at the Vuelta a España, as many as 18 bikes were stolen from Visma-Lease a Bike team vehicles prior to stage 3. Both of those incidents occurred overnight.
Jakroo Handsling, which competes at UK national races and UCI calendar events, expanded from a debut with eight British riders last year to an international roster with 10 riders this season.
Part of the team competed at The Peaks 2 Day p/b Velo Dege stage race March 14-15, with Oliver Dawson finishing sixth overall. It was not clear if the bikes involved in the rooftop raid impacted participation by any riders at the event, which was held in the Peak District and more thann 250 kilometres north-west of the incident in the London suburb.
Bikes used by amateurs and pros have become targets for robberies. Cyclingnews recently provided several key steps that anyone should take for prevention of theft as well as what to do if recovery is needed.
