Movistar pro Andrey Amador has his bike confiscated during confrontation with Costa Rican police (+ video)

Movistar rider Andrey Amador has accused a police officer of damaging his bike while in the process of confiscating it from him. The Costa Rican rider had been stopped near his home for illegally riding on a motorway on which bikes aren’t permitted.

The Tico Times reports that Amador was stopped on Highway 27 near Escazú. The video above, taken from the traffic officer’s motorbike, shows the rider asking if he can pull in at a bus stop further on, but he is asked to stop immediately.

“Don’t make this any harder,” the policeman says.

When Amador does then stop, the officer appears to shove him, saying: “Calm down.”

A video published by Amador shows that the bike was then flipped upside-down and it appears the rider took issue with this, suggesting the policeman would have to pay for any damage.

The rider, who finished eighth in this year’s Giro d’Italia, even offers a “do you know who I am?” – to which the policeman responds simply: “I don’t care.”

The bike was confiscated and Amador took to Twitter to ask if someone could loan him a replacement so that he could keep training. Police say he has since paid the traffic fine of 50,000 Costa Rican colones (about £70) and got his bike back.

In a YouTube video, Amador apologises for the incident and admits his error. He says he knew what he did was a traffic violation, but says he was upset with the aggressive way the traffic policeman dealt with the situation.

In 2010, on another training ride in Costa Rica, Amador was attacked by thieves. The occupants of two cars got out and beat him unconscious before taking his team issue Pinarello Dogma 60.1.

After spending six hours unconscious in a river bed, Amador came round and phoned his family to come and get him. He was then taken to hospital to recover. One of his kidneys had stopped functioning as a result of the beating and he was also suffering from a pulmonary contusion that affected his breathing.