Alexandar Richardson said one of the men rode into him at 60kph
A professional cyclist was forced to try and outrun a group of machete-wielding masked robbers after they tried to steal his £10,000 bike while he was training in London's Richmond Park.
Alexandar Richardson was training in the park on Thursday afternoon when he was chased by four attackers on two motorcycles who were trying to force him to hand over his bike.
The 31-year-old rode off at "full speed" but the men caught up with him, he wrote in an
Instagram post.
"They simply rode one of the motorbikes into me at 60kph," the UCI ProTeam Alpecin-Fenix rider wrote.
"I came off the bike and the first motorbike lost control. I held onto my bike however the second motorbike then dragged me and the bike along the floor for another 100m. After this, they pulled out a 15-inch machete at which point I thought better and let the bike go."
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUu9tr-M4ww/
Richardson, a father of two, told the
Evening Standard he would not return to the park after the dramatic robbery.
Richardson, who represented the cycle Team GB at the weekend and is off to France to race this weekend said: “I can’t afford for this to happen again. I saw them on their powerful motorcycles nod to each other and I knew I was in trouble."
He went on to described how the robbers had noticed his bike and had "committed to getting it".
“I don’t know what lengths they would have gone to but they could easily have said ‘this guy is not giving up, let’s slice him'."
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Richardson, who hoped to get his distinctive bike back, warned others using the park to be "very careful".
Hundreds of cyclists use the park, some 14km outside central London, as a training circuit.
Police have collected CCTV from the area but are yet to make any arrests.
A spokesman confirmed police were called to reports of a robbery in the park around 4pm.
"They carried out a search of the area but found no trace of the suspects. Officers took an initial statement. Enquiries continue. No arrests have been made," the spokesman said.
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or to remain anonymous Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
