Olympian Philip Hindes’ distinctive Pinarello and VW Golf stolen

Olympic gold medalist Philip Hindes’ home has been ranscaked by thieves who have made off with a distinctive and prized Pinarello Paris.

Smashing through patio doors into the unoccupied West Didsbury home, the burglars made off in Hindes’ VW Golf, which was later found burned out. The bike, although not the same as the one ridden to glory at London 2012, was used as a training bike by the athlete and bore Hindes’ name and a Team Sky sticker.

Hindes Gold medal was thankfully not stolen in the raid.

Detective Constable Rob Southern, of West Didsbury CID, said: "The reason we have publicised this theft is so that we can catch the people responsible and return the bike to its rightful owner.

"I would therefore ask anyone who is offered a bike matching this description and the image we have released to call police immediately. It might be the thieves try and offload the bike onto a sports memorabilia collector, so I would urge anyone who is offered the chance to buy such a bike to call police immediately as you could be vital to helping get this bike back.

"I would also ask anyone who has information about the burglary itself, or who might have been involved, to come forward.

"The stolen car was found burnt out on Princess Parkway so again if you saw anything then we need to hear from you."