Russian team has all its bikes stolen ahead of world championships race

The Men's Under 23 race in Florence (AP)

The Russian team have had all of their bikes stolen at the cycling world championships, team leader Alexandr Kolobnev said on Saturday.

"Police at work... Stolen ALL the bikes last night. No start tomorrow," Kolobnev, a silver medallist at the world championships road race in 2007 and 2009, wrote on his Twitter feed.

A similar incident happened in February when the Garmin-Sharp team had all their bikes stolen during the Tour Mediterranéen in France.

The men's elite road race will be held on Sunday over 272.3 kilometres from Lucca to Florence.

REUTERS