Spanish police find bike stolen from Simon Gerrans at Vuelta

Police in Spain have recovered a bike stolen from Orica-GreenEdge’s Simon Gerrans following a stage of the Vuelta last month – after discovering it for sale in a second hand shop for just 1 per cent of its 12,000 euro value.

The bike had been stolen after the finish in Malaga of Stage 3 of the Spanish Grand Tour on Monday 24 August, according to a press release from the Policia Nacional.

A pair of police officers inspecting the shop, whose owner is said to have an extensive criminal record, became suspicious of its provenance after noticing the 120 euro price tag.

Enquiries revealed the description of the Scott Foil bike matched the one that had been stolen in the Andalusian city.

The bike was reportedly delivered to the Australian WorldTour team ahead of today’s concluding stage of the Vuelta in Madrid.

On their official Twitter account, the Policia Nacional said: “We’re awarding the striped jersey to the person who stole the Orica-GreenEdge bike – his stage finish is in jail.”

Al que robó la bici del @ORICA_GreenEDGE le vamos a dar el maillot a rayas. Su final de etapa = el calabozo #LV2015 pic.twitter.com/zWiFnIUmoL

— Policía Nacional (@policia) September 13, 2015