A top British cyclist has described being attacked and robbed of his expensive custom bike worth almost $14,000, by four balaclava-wearing thugs on motorbikes wielding a machete in southwest London on Thursday afternoon.
Alexander Richardson finished training at 3pm yesterday when he says the sinister quartet started following him in Richmond Park.
Spotting them at the side of the road waiting for a potential victim, the 31-year-old tried to get away but was knocked off his bicycle at a high speed he claimed was 60 kilometers per hour.
Desperate to keep hold of his bike, Richardson was dragged along the road and threatened with a machete he described as "three of four times the size" of a normal kitchen knife.
"I saw them before they saw me. They were sitting on the side of the road by East Sheen Gate, sort of just waiting there," Richardson explained to The Sun.
"I was like: 'Oh, God. This is not good.' I turned the bike around and went full gas towards Roehampton Cafe," he went on.
"They rode the bike into the back of me, I tried to block the road, but the weight of the moped knocked me off.
"I held onto the bike from the back wheel. But the second bike dragged my bike along with me, along the floor for a further 50-75 meters."
"At that point they pulled out this massive machete," the Alpecin-Fenix team member continued.
"If you think of your normal kitchen knife, it was three or four times the size. And at that point I thought that was that."
Yet despite the thieves getting away with the customized bike, Richardson remains confident it "will show up" with the police already informed of the crime.
"It's so unique in places that it'll be difficult to sell on. The way the bike has been built, it's identifiable," the cyclist revealed.
After his experience, the married father-of-two has advised fellow riders to judge the situation carefully if ever thrown into such a dilemma, and give up their bike if their "health is at risk".
"If you can get somewhere safe, that might be a deterrent, but you've got to judge the situation," he said.
"If your health is at risk, and you can't get out of the situation, you've got to give up the bike."
On Instagram, Richardson thanked his wife for rushing to his rescue while also showing off his war wounds.
"I’m pretty cut up and bruised with a swollen hip but tomorrow is another day," he wrote, after also describing the incident to his 10,000 followers.
"Please be careful in the area and note this is becoming a common occurrence in parts of London," he added, while replies were left by other professionals.
"What the f*ck! Lucky you're ok!," said Edward Theuns, as Jasper Philipsen advised him to "take care".
On Friday, Richardson wrote another post which began by saying: "If I’ve learnt anything from my time in cycling, it’s don’t let negativity influence your productivity and surround yourself with only the positive.
"Thanks for all your kind and thoughtful messages concerning yesterday’s incident, there are so many good people out there. Today is another day and I have a very positive memory of doing the worlds last weekend, something I worked hard to achieve.
"That and my family is what I will fill my mind with. Bikes and materials come and go. Scum will always be there, but the degree of respect issued will be next to nil actioned by moving on with my day exactly as I had intended to initially," he signed off.
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