Wrexham,North Wales - Bike stolen just days after he "leads" Tour of Britain

Published date: 12 September 2016 | 

Published by: David Humphreys 
Read more articles by David Humphreys Email reporter

A CYCLIST who inadvertently led the Tour of Britain has been left gutted after thieves stole his bicycle.

Just hours after the Leader reported how Roger Armstrong, of Mynydd Isa, got accidentally caught up at the front of the peloton, the 56-year-old father of two discovered his bicycle had been taken from his shed.

The bike, worth £5,000 was a Specialized S-Works Tarmac DI 2 model in bright red and black.

As reported in the Leader on Friday, amateur cyclist Roger went on a casual ride as he returned from injury.

But when he headed out towards the Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen, he ended up at the front of the pack of professional riders, having completely forgotten the fourth stage of the race was taking place.

A distraught Roger said he hoped he would see the bike again but wasn’t holding out much hope.

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He said: “I had it in the shed and came to do some work outside in the garden and it was gone.

“I’ve got a ride next week in Scotland but now I’ve got nothing to ride on. We lock everything up at night so they’ve got to have known it was there.” Roger has undertaken charity with rides from Land’s End to John O’Groats and the Dragon Devil L’Etape Wales on the bike.

“I’ve raised more than £10,000 for charity on that,” he said.

The machine had been specially customised with electronic gear changes because of Roger’s arthritis.

“I wish I’d left my tracker on it. I won’t be able to afford that again,” he added. “I thought I might have left it in the garage or hoped I’d walked past it and just not noticed.

“There were two bikes left in the shed so whoever did this knew what they were coming for. I was sat inside crying when I found out, if we’re not insured, I’m stuffed.”

A police spokesman confirmed a break-in at the back of Roger’s home on Mold Road had been reported. Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting reference number U137036.

see-http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/166559/roger-s-bike-stolen-just-days-after-he-leads-tour-of-britain.aspx