British gold medal hope and reigning Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has fallen victim to an extreme case of an age-old prank, as his Olympic training kit was stolen from a changing room while he was showering on Sunday.
Wiggins, who will try to win Team GB's first gold medal in the road race time trials on Wednesday, made the discovery at the Foxhills spa in Ottershaw, Surrey, after a post-practice shower and sauna session.
"Watch your kit at the Foxhills spa... there is a tea leaf about," the 32-year-old cyclist initially wrote on Twitter.
However, Wiggins was apparently ordered to remove the message, explaining: "Gotta delete tweet Re the thief, bad PR, never mind my kit though!"
In a statement, the spa, where the British cycling team are based during the Games, played down the incident, attributing the theft to an "overzealous fan" caught up in "cycling fever".
According to the spa, Wiggins returned to the hotel shortly before 1pm after a training session on the roads.
"Wiggins arrived in his Official Team GB training Cycling Kit before leaving it unattended on the changing room benches of the Men’s Locker Room," Foxhills explained.
"It seems an overzealous fan has scored a fantastic London 2012 souvenir."
However, the spa later took to its Twitter account to defend its statement, which some took to be dismissing the incident and condoning the theft.
"Foxhills has supported @BritishCycling & @bradwiggins in this unfortunate situation,we don't condone theft&were extremely saddened by event," they clarified.
"Foxhills will make no more comments on theft. Attention should be to #TimeTrial ahead-wishing our cyclists luck".