The bike-share program rode into trouble last night before it was even launched — when someone stole one of the bikes as it was being delivered to a Manhattan rack, police said.

The pedal pilferer snatched the blue Citi Bike at around 6 p.m. in Kips Bay, and was able to ride off before workers noticed.

The crew had been busy placing a load of the $825 rental bicycles into a rack at Second Avenue and 25th Street, and had not yet locked them in place when the thief struck.

Workers realized a bike was swiped only when a passer-by shouted out.

After first trying to run after the crook — who was still at large last night — they flagged down cops.

“A cop car was passing by and the workers said, ‘Stop, stop, we’ve just been robbed,’” said Bolivar Arellano, a Post freelance photographer who witnessed the aftermath of the bike heist.

A Citi Bike spokesman said he had not yet been informed of the theft and could not comment.

Meanwhile, hundreds of New Yorkers who had hoped to do some riding today have not received their annual bike-share membership cards in time for the grand opening.

Citi Bike officials could not estimate how many key cards were lost in the shuffle, but blamed the snafu on the US Postal Service.

“Out of 11,000 [keys], a few hundred got lost,” said Dani Simons, the program’s director of marketing.

Instead of the promised home delivery, biking enthusiasts wanting to take advantage of the holiday had to pick up their keys at the program’s headquarters in Brooklyn yesterday.

There was also a Citi Bike tent set up on the south side of Union Square.

“They should have mailed them earlier,” said Ansell Hawkins, 52, a Fort Greene resident whose key didn’t come in the mail.

The bike racks will be functional for all riders by late morning today.

Additional reporting by David Seifman and Amber Sutherland



