A young female cyclist was dragged from her bike and attacked in Warwickshire last week, police have said.
Warwickshire Police are appealing for information following the incident in Clifford Chambers, south of Stratford-upon-Avon, last week, where the rider ended up being robbed.
On the evening of Saturday 13 August, a woman in her 20s was riding her bike on Milcote Road between 18:25 and 18:40 BST, when four males in a blue estate car stopped in front of her. Two of the males got out of the car, pulled her off her bike, assaulted her and stole her phone.
PC Becky Davies of Warwickshire Police said in a statement: “This was a distressing experience for the victim. If you were in the area and saw this incident or captured any footage of the vehicle leaving the scene, let us know and we will take action.”
If you have information, you can go to www.warwickshire.police.uk/report or call 101 quoting incident 282 of 13 August 2023. You can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
While this incident saw the cyclist robbed of her phone, other attacks on cyclists in recent years have seemingly been more about the bike they were on.
Two years ago, Alexandar Richardson was attacked and had his bike stolen by a knife-wielding gang in Richmond Park.
The then Alpecin-Fenix rider said he was just finishing his training at the park, a popular riding destination for cyclists in the capital, at around 3pm when he became aware of two mopeds following behind him.
Richardson said four men on the mopeds were wearing balaclavas and that he "knew exactly they wanted to take my bike" and that he then attempted to get away as fast as possible towards a cafe in the park.
"They simply rode one of the motor bikes into me at 60kph," Richardson said in a post on Instagram.
Last year, Scottish rider Jen George said she had been left "not wanting to ride [her] bike" after being followed on the roads on two separate occasions, both involving men on motorbikes.
She told Cycling Weekly that she had suffered two attacks - one in April and May in 2022, which made her feel unsafe whilst riding outside. She also said she had spoken to other female riders who she says have experienced similar incidents, including "sexual harassment."
