What the heck, pro cyclist attacked

[Keith A]

Just saw this on CyclingNews...pro cyclist attacked while training
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/offr...hile-training/

[Clean39T]

Crazy bad sh*t happens every day in the world...so, statistically speaking, it only makes sense that it happens to cyclists on occasion...sucks for him though...we are definitely vulnerable out there...

[Davist]

terrible..

Wonder where the assailants got a baseball bat in France?

[William]

Very little info there on how the incident was initiated.

That's why I've always adhered to the - "I'd rather know it and not need it, than need it and not know it" rule. The other variation as well - "Id rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it".







William

[El Chaba]

Originally Posted by William

Very little info there on how the incident was initiated.







William

Yes...Those details very conspicuous by their absence...

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by Davist

Wonder where the assailants got a baseball bat in France?

I think it was actually a stale baguette.

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by William

Very little info there on how the incident was initiated







William

I read an account from one of the other riders. Sounds like the car buzzed them, they yelled at the guy, he was drunk, got out with some weapons and started attacking them. Lesson here is that you have to do your best to ignore the aggressive drivers, no matter how hard that is. Nothing good can come of it.

[martl]

Originally Posted by Davist

terrible..

Wonder where the assailants got a baseball bat in France?

Where they get everything else, at a Decathlon?!

--> https://www.decathlon.fr/C-698493-baseball

[chiasticon]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

I read an account from one of the other riders. Sounds like the car buzzed them, they yelled at the guy, he was drunk, got out with some weapons and started attacking them.

yeah. from the comments at the original link:

So, it seems that one of the guys Offredo was training with is a journalist and a former pro -Guillaume Judas (formerly of the Jean Floch team). The thing actually took place near Paris -so much for my unkind words about Provence's motorists. Judas posted this on a French forum: "I'm OK and so is the other guy. Yoann isn't. We're shocked, we were going through some place where the speed limit is 30 kph and still we nearly got run over by some speeding car. Tempers flared, the guy stopped his car right in front of us and then he got out with a cutter and a baseball bat just to show us who's in charge, I guess. Still, what pissed me the most is that afterwards a couple of so-called 'witnesses' told the gendarmes that, basically, we were just asking for it..."

Update: according to Guillaume Judas, the guy has a criminal record and was driving under the influence of alcohol -so now the cyclists might be taken a little more seriously by the gendarmes. Like, Offredo might not have actually 'asked' to have his nose broken by a bat.

awful situation, but unfortunately there's a**holes everywhere. just unfortunately ran into one in a rough state, out for blood. or so it seems.

hope he recovers quickly.

[DRZRM]

Sucks! I once had a pack of teens in Newcastle UK (actually I was riding from Newcastle to Tynemouth on the coast, as I did most evenings while on a research trip) and they took offense to my pink bike (see below) which marked me a "Faggot!!" next thing, bricks and full-ish beer cans were being hurled, I was lucky to get out.

Some folks are just itching for a fight, I imagine the bike (his or mine) had very little to do with it.

Seriously, how can you not love this f-ing bike!!

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Davist

Wonder where the assailants got a baseball bat in France?

LOL. Good point.

[chwupper]

Baseball does actually exist in France. I played on a team when I lived there --Pessac Panthères.