Italian pro cyclist pushed off bike, punched in face, and hit with rock in two vicious, unprovoked assaults by motorbike attackers

An Italian professional cyclist says he is now “scared” to train on local roads after he was threatened, pushed off his bike, and punched in the face by motorbike-riding thugs at the end of a training ride with his brother this week, in what appears to be two random, completely unprovoked attacks.

Luca Colnaghi, who races for UCI ProTeam VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, suffered a dislocated shoulder and fractures to his ribs in the back-to-back assaults, the second of which took place as he attempted to retrieve his earphones from the scene, only to find his attacker and a friend waiting for him.

“It was all so absurd that if I hadn’t experienced it firsthand, I would think it was a scene from a movie,” the 26-year-old, now in his fourth full year as a pro with the Bardiani-CSF squad, told Italian cycling site TuttoBiciWeb following the attacks.

Colnaghi was training with his brother Andrea, who also races for the Hungarian Karcag Cycling ÉPKAR Conti team, between Varenna and Lierna on the eastern shore of Lake Como, near their home in Lecco on Wednesday afternoon, when they were approached by a man on a motorbike “looking for trouble”.

Luca Colnaghi (credit: VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè)

“He pulled up alongside me, insulted me, and put his bike in the way to force me to stop,” Colnaghi said, describing the incident.

“When I found myself face-to-face with him, we tried to calm him down, to tell him to stop, that we had no desire to argue. But he pushed me and made me fall.

“He then attacked me, grabbing me by the neck. Luckily my brother and I managed to block him and make him go away. He tried to intimidate us again by going back the wrong way as if he was going to crash into us head-on, but it seemed like it was over.”

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However, things escalated further when Colnaghi later rode back to the scene of the incident alone in an attempt to find his earphones, which had dropped out of his jersey pocked during the initial confrontation.

“When I got home I realised I had lost the headphones I had in my jersey pocket, so I went back to look for them, making the mistake of showing up alone,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the individual, who I later discovered was already known to the police, returned with another foreigner like him on the motorcycle.

“First, they grazed me to make me fall off my bike, then when I was riding away the passenger took a rock from the road and threw it at my rear wheel. Not content with that, they came at me with the motorcycle, blocking me on the wall at the edge of the road, the parapet that separates the road from Lake Como.

“I had already hurt myself on impact, but as if that wasn’t enough, these two individuals got off the motorbike to grab me from behind and punch me in the face. When I managed to free myself, the odometer alarm had already alerted my dad, who reached me at the scene of the incident even before the rescue and the police, who despite the excitement of the moment I had had the lucidity to call.”

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Despite the attackers covering the licence plate of the motorbike with a balaclava during the second assault, the 26-year-old managed to take a photograph of it during the first encounter, which he has passed on to police.

Colnaghi has also sought out the assistance of the Association of Italian Professional Cyclists (ACCPI), as well as Zerosbatti, a firm specialising in legal protection for cyclists involved in incidents on the road.

In a statement published on Thursday, Zerosbatti lawyer Federico Balconi said: “Luca Colnaghi’s attackers, following the investigation that we requested through the complaint, will have to answer for serious crimes such as voluntary injuries, assault, threats, with the aggravating circumstance of futile motives and complicity between them.

“We hope that the Prosecutor’s Office will rigorously carry out all the necessary activities to guarantee Luca and all the cyclists in the area the safety and defence from these dangerous individuals.”

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According to his VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè team, Colnaghi suffered a dislocated shoulder and a microfracture to his ribs, and has been told by doctors to rest for 10 days.

However, the team says the 26-year-old still wishes to take part in this weekend’s scheduled races in Belgium, Saturday’s GP Criquielion and the GP Monseré on Sunday, and as of Friday morning remains on the provisional start list for the former.

“The team strongly condemns any act of violence and, together with the ACCPI and Zerosbatti's lawyers, will carefully follow the development of the investigations so that justice is done,” VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè said in a statement.

“The safety of the athletes must be a priority and we hope that such episodes will not be repeated.”

When asked by TuttoBiciWeb whether he’ll continue to train on his local roads near Lake Como, Colnaghi said: “Having been explicitly threatened not to contact the police or they would come and get me, not light-heartedly.

“I was very saddened to find that, despite openly asking for help, no motorist stopped. Only an amateur cyclist who witnessed the whole scene, when I was in the ambulance receiving the necessary medical treatment, offered to be my witness.

“I have been training on these roads since I was a child, today cycling is my job, I wear a very recognisable uniform and the probability of finding these characters is high. I will go out on my bike with 25 more eyes open, but I hope they will not do anything else to harm me or anyone else.

“I believe in justice and I hope the authorities do their duty, otherwise in Italy how is one supposed to defend themselves?”

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The debate surrounding the safety of cyclists on Italy’s roads has been a tragically pertinent one in recent months, particularly in the aftermath of the death of promising 19-year-old cyclist Sara Piffer, who was killed during a training ride in January when she was hit by a motorist attempting to overtake another driver.

The teenage Mendelspeck rider’s death provoked an outpouring of grief and anger within Italy’s cycling community, and sparked demands for reform of the country’s road safety laws, better education for motorists, and a general overhaul of attitudes towards cyclists on the roads.

And while the attacks targeting Colnaghi this week are notable for their seemingly random nature, he also is not the first professional cyclist to fall victim to motorbike-riding criminals, who are normally out to steal what they assume to be the rider’s expensive bike.

> Pro cyclist no longer rides alone after two 'bikejacking' attempts as violent incidents increase

In 2022, former Scottish champion Jennifer George said she no longer felt safe riding alone and had considering quitting cycling altogether after she was targeted by bike thieves twice in the space of two months.

The first incident took place in April 2022, when George noticed two people on a motorbike watching her during a long ride from her home in south-east London out to Surrey.

“I’ve never felt so vulnerable in my life. I’ve never felt so terrified in my life,” she said at the time.

A chase ensued, with the attackers trying to veer into the 39-year-old. When George asked them to leave her alone, one of the attackers said, “no, why should we?” She then managed to make it to a busy pub nearby, and collapsed having a panic attack.

Seven weeks later, George was targeted by two more would-be attackers on mopeds, and was forced to wait in a driveway for half an hour until they had gone. She reported both incidents to the police, with Surrey Police filing details of the first incident due to limited lines of enquiry, and Kent Police failing to respond at all.

George said that although she felt “almost lucky” that the attackers didn’t pull a knife on her, she had stopped riding her bike on her own as “the thought of it just hurts”.