Lance Armstrong’s bike is stolen

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SACRAMENTO -- Some time Saturday night or Sunday morning the Astana team bus, parked in an alley behind the Residence Inn Capitol, was broken into and four bikes were stolen, including Lance Armstrong’s custom-made, custom-fitted, custom-detailed Trek time-trial bike (shown at right).

Armstrong twittered about his missing bike this morning before the Amgen Tour of California’s first stage between Davis and Santa Rosa. Astana team spokesman Phillipe Maertens said bikes from Yaroslav Popovych, Janez Brajkovic and Steve Morabito were also stolen. Maertens said the hotel was supposed to provide security. The Residence Inn manager on duty did not return several messages.

Maertens said Armstrong’s bike was loaded last because Armstrong had been called to doping control after Saturday’s prologue and he arrived at the bus later than the rest of the team.

Armstrong wrote on his Twitter account Sunday morning: ‘Whoa. They just came to my room and said our truck was broken into and someone stole my time-trial bike! APB out to the Twitterati.’

So all you detective’s today, if you see a very expensive, very well-equipped, rather yellow Trek bike, think about calling someone. Or Twittering. Armstrong has a second, less fancy time-trial bike available if he doesn’t recover the stolen one for the Tour of California’s major time trial on Sunday in Solvang.

-- Diane Pucin