The Lifeplus-Wahoo cycling team were able to start stage two of the Tour of Britain on Friday despite 14 of their bikes being stolen overnight in Shropshire.

Lifeplus had a promising start to the race during Thursday’s opening stage as Heidi Franz took maximum points in the first Queen of the Mountains climb, the formidable Llangynog.

However, the UK-based women’s team discovered on Friday their mechanic’s van had been broken into at Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel in Whitechurch, which put in doubt their stage two participation.

“We woke this morning to find all 14 of our Ribble Endurance SLR bikes stolen from our mechanic’s van,” read a Lifeplus statement on Friday morning.

Lifeplus revealed they hoped to find a “solution” to enable them to start stage two in Wrexham and the generosity of rival teams ensured they could continue their participation in the Tour of Britain.

A further statement by Lifeplus added: “All of our thanks and appreciation goes out to the many teams that offered and gave their spare team bikes and their mechanics time to get our girls on the road.

“We wouldn’t be starting without them!”

World champion Lotte Kopecky, of SD Worx-Protime, held off Letizia Paternoster in a photo finish to clinch victory in the opening stage on Thursday.