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Mountain bike worth £10k goes missing on flight to US

James Anderson James AndersonJames Anderson
James Anderson's bike is thought to have gone missing in Dublin

A professional mountain biker who flew to the United States for a competition arrived empty handed after his £10k bike went missing on the flight.

When James Anderson, from Denbighshire, arrived in Baltimore, he discovered his wheels had gone walkabout.

It is thought his equipment went missing when the flight from Manchester stopped at Dublin.

Mr Anderson, who rides professionally for Orange Bikes, said he was feeling "extremely frustrated".

"It takes a lot for me to be this disgruntled," said Mr Anderson, from Pentrecelyn.

"I feel lost, they're making it my problem, when it's not.

"We can fly items by drone but not deliver my bike to its destination."

The bike is believed to be in a warehouse at Dublin Airport.

"It's cost me my race, I've lost out on exposure for my sponsors - but I just want my possessions back."

Mr Anderson and girlfriend Lowri Davies tried to find the bike at Dublin Airport on their return journey without success.

James Anderson James Anderson and girlfriend LowriJames Anderson
He and girlfriend Lowri Davies tried to find it on their return flight from Baltimore

He said: "We queued up for ages to speak to the baggage handler staff and just came across this sea of bags in lost property.

"The chap said 'I'll go and look for you' but he couldn't find anything."

Mr Anderson was flying to the US to take part in the Mercedes Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Snowshoe, West Virginia.

He said: "It's cost me my race, I've lost out on exposure for my sponsors. But I just want my possessions back."

'A sea of lost property'

He and his girlfriend, Lowri Davies, tried to find the bike when they stopped at Dublin on their return flight.

"We queued up for ages to speak to the baggage handler staff and just came across this sea of bags in lost property," Mr Anderson said.

"The chap said 'I'll go and look for you' but he couldn't find anything".

He said an airport worker told him he was "confident" it would arrive in the next few days and be shipped to him.

Mr Anderson is now having to build a bike from spare parts so he can take part in a competition in Caersws, Powys, on 14 August.

Dublin Airport said it was not responsible for baggage handling.

Play Airlines said: "We at Play take the matter of lost luggage extremely seriously, we've made contact and are working hard to return the lost items to James."