Weyts had taken the race bike to the press conference in Halle (south-west of Brussels) but had an unpleasant surprise afterwards. His two-wheeler turned out to have vanished.

"I locked my bicycle properly. The press conference was not far from where I left it, but apparently somebody managed to steal it. We hope to use CCTV footage to catch the thief, and to have him account for his deeds", Weyts told the VRT.

His spokesman's bicycle was still there. Mr Weyts did get back okay: "We're at a station here, we can catch a train. That's a perfect link."