Tricky theft in northern France: The Italian national track bike team had a large part of their gold racing bikes stolen on Saturday night on the sidelines of the World Cup in Roubaix.

The supplier reported on Instagram on Saturday.

"We are shocked to hear that most of the bikes have been stolen," it said.

After the Olympic victory of the four-wheeler in Tokyo, the wheels of the Italian luxury brand Pinarello are strikingly painted in gold and equipped with specific 3-D printed handlebars, which are very important for the athletes.

At the World Cup, which will run until Sunday, the Italians led the nation ranking on Saturday afternoon with a total of seven medals.

Pinarello asks fans to help solve the theft.

German women dominate the sprint

In the sprint final, there was reason to cheer for the German team: The 24-year-old defending champion Emma Hinze secured gold on Friday evening in Roubaix and thus her fifth title - in Berlin 2020 and Roubaix 2021 she has only competed in five disciplines so far . Team colleague and friend Lea Sophie Friedrich made it to the final of the impressive sprint show, but had to admit defeat in the eagerly awaited German duel after two thrilling rounds.

Before that, Hinze had clearly defeated Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell from Canada twice and thus demonstrated her current top form. "It's just fun," said Hinze, who made a more relaxed impression in the days of Roubaix than she did in Tokyo, when the media pressure and expectations were simply too much for her. On Sunday, Hinze wants to defend her third title in the Keirin and perfect the next spectacular World Cup triple. As defending champion in the 500-meter time trial on Saturday, Friedrich is one of the favorites.

“I didn't believe in it beforehand because I didn't feel as good as I did before Berlin.

It's really cool!

I had a few bills that I wanted to settle, "said Hinze after a show of force in the final, which the new vice world champion Friedrich also recognized:" Emma is simply unbeatable in this form. " the 35th World Cup gold under his leadership: “Wahnsinn!

Now there is a little sadness.

It's a historic success that shows that Olympia was fraught with many problems on the fringes.

Here Emma has focused again. "