Geraint Thomas had an eventful day in the saddle during a training ride in the south of France as his bike was stolen and later returned by the local police.

The 2018 Tour de France winner was forced to take a taxi home when a training run was cut short on Sunday after his bike was taken from outside a coffee shop.

Thomas posted a picture on social media while in the taxi after his Pinarello Dogma F bike went missing, saying: “Lovely ride. Lovely coffee stop in Menton. Except someone nicked my bike.”

But the 35-year-old posted another tweet a short while later when his bike had been found.

“Look what showed up!! Boy have I got a good story for you on next week’s @gtcc_pod. Big thanks to the Menton Police for their help. All’s well that ends well,” he said.

Thomas had joked earlier that he had also lost irreplaceable training data when the bike was taken.

He added: “Plus I haven’t downloaded my Garmin this week. If it ain’t on TrainingPeaks it didn’t happen, right?”

The Welshman recently returned to southern France to step up preparations for next season.

Though the Ineos Grenadiers are yet to announce a new contract for Thomas, the 35-year-old revealed last month he had reached an agreement with the team and needed only to sign it.