The Israel Cycling Academy's pre-season preparations suffered an accident, with the team's 17 bikes being snatched up in Spain on Monday.
The team is a development team for the World Tour-level team Israel's Entrepreneurial Nation Team and will compete in a number of intercontinental-level events.
Before the start of the 2022 competition, both teams gathered in Catalonia for training camp.
On Monday, some of the academy's silver-painted cars were stolen from the convoy equipment cars outside the hotel where they were staying. The team posted on social media: "Today, 17 Factor bikes from our Israel Cycling Academy were stolen from a convoy truck near Girona, Spain. Frame colors include silver, red, and black, as shown. If anyone has any information, please contact us. ”
Theft of vehicles from professional convoys has become commonplace. A few months ago, at the World Track Championships in Roubaix, the Italian team's golden painted track car was stolen at the hotel where he was staying, with losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros.
Other teams have also suffered mass thefts, including the BikeExchange and Trek-Segafredo women's teams in recent years.
Individual car theft is even more common, with Geraint Thomas and Ivan Cortina recently disappearing after drinking a coffee cart during training.
The Israel Cycling Academy's 2022 team has 16 people, half of whom are Israelis. They compete in a number of international events, and according to UCI regulations, some of them will be among the teams that are eligible to be called to the World Tour in certain races.
Edit: Johnny
Image source: Official website of the Israel Startup Nation