"He attacked me, grabbing me by the neck" - Italian cyclist Luca Colnaghi suffers violent assault after training ride
Cycling
Italian cyclist Luca Colnaghi has revealed that he was the
victim of a violent assault following a training ride, describing the ordeal as
something out of a movie scene.
"It was all so absurd that if I hadn't experienced it
first hand, I would think it was a scene from a movie. Instead, in the early
afternoon yesterday when I was between Lierna and Varenna with my brother
Andrea, unfortunately, on our way we crossed paths with a guy on a motorbike
looking for trouble.
“He pulled up alongside me, insulted me, and put his bike in
the way to force me to stop," Colnaghi told Tuttobiciweb.
The 26-year-old from Lecco explained that he and his brother
tried to defuse the situation, but the motorcyclist escalated matters.
"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 said. "He 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
there."
However, the incident took an even darker turn when Colnaghi
later returned to the scene alone to look for his lost headphones.
"When I got home I realized I had lost the headphones I
had in my shirt pocket, so I went back to look for them, making the mistake of
showing up alone. 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, then when I was
running 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."
Colnaghi described how the attack escalated further, leaving
him injured before help arrived.
"I had already hurt myself on impact, but as if that
wasn't enough, these two individuals left the motorcycle to take 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."
Following the attack, Federico Balconi, a lawyer for the Association
of Italian Professional Cyclists, has confirmed that the assailants will face
serious charges.
"Luca Colnaghi's attackers, following the investigation
activities 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
defense from these dangerous individuals."
Despite the trauma of the incident, Colnaghi also expressed disappointment
at the lack of intervention from bystanders.
"Having been explicitly threatened not to contact the
police or they would come and get me, not light heartedly," he explained. "I
was very saddened to find that, despite me having openly asked 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."
Colnaghi, who has trained on these roads since childhood,
now feels a heightened sense of caution but remains hopeful that justice will
be served.
"I have been training on these roads since I was a
child. Today cycling is my job, I wear a very recognizable uniform, and the
probability of finding these characters is a given. 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?"
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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