The notice called it “mass destruction”. After a spate of thefts and vandalism decimated its fleet of bicycles, Hong Kong-based start-up GoBee said last week it would pull out of French cities just days after quitting Italy.

But the company’s business update read like an indictment of Europeans: “In four months, 60 per cent of our fleet was destroyed, stolen or privatised, making the whole European project no longer sustainable.”

Europe is known as a centre of cycling — home to the Tour de France and the historic birthplace of the bicycle. According to the European Commission, 8 per cent of its population use bikes more than other transport every day and Asia’s largest bike sharing start-ups including Mobike, ofo, oBike and GoBee, have all trained their sights on its cities in search of growth outside their crowded home markets.