Alpecin-Fenix professional cyclist Alexandar Richardson has spoken of the frightening moment he was targeted by a gang of moped riders in Richmond Park yesterday who knocked him off his bike, dragged him along for 100 metres, then threatened him with a machete as they stole it.
The 31-year-old, who earlier this week rode the Belgian one-day race Binche-Chimay-Binche, was on a training ride yesterday when he was targeted by the thieves.
Writing on Instagram, he said that he was finishing his ride at around 3pm “when two motor bikes with four men and balaclavas started following me.
“I knew exactly they wanted to take my bike and started to think what the best thing I could do was.”
Richardson tried to get away from the robbers, but was rammed from his bike and desperately tried to hold onto his bike before letting go of it when he was threatened with the weapon.
“I turned around at East Sheen roundabout and started riding full speed to the cafe about 500 metres away. They simply rode one of the motor bikes into me at 60kph,” he said.
“I came off the bike and the first motor bike lost control. I held onto my bike however the second motor bike then dragged me and the bike along the floor for another 100 metres.
“After this they pulled out a 15 inch machete at which point I thought better let the bike go.”
“I’m pretty cut up and bruised with a swollen hip but tomorrow is another day,” Richardson continued.
“Please be careful in the area and note this is becoming a common occurrence in parts of London. The police have taken their notes down as armed robbery and hopefully the criminals are found. Please raise awareness.
“At least I got most of the ride in even if no file to show for it! Once again the wife to the rescue to pick me up,” he added.
Richardson did not give details of his bike, but it was most likely a team issue Canyon Aeroad.
It is the second violent robbery in which a cyclist has been targeted at Richmond Park within 24 hours.
On Tuesday evening, the owner of a 2021 Cannondale System Six was pushed off his bike by two men on an electric scooter and wearing balaclavas, who then made off with it.
Yesterday around 7pm I was training in Richmond park and 2 guys in electric scooter and balaclavas push me of my bike and took it. Not a common bike to see. If you see a bike like that please contact @metpoliceuk
frame number ending with 20@RichmondPkCycle
Thanks pic.twitter.com/1BQmSq1HRY
— J AM (@jam211191) October 7, 2021
73 thoughts on “Professional cyclist robbed of bike by Richmond Park machete gang”
Horrific crime. Wishing you
Horrific crime. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Someone somewhere will be offering some “bike bargains” for sale, a good reason to get provenance when buying second hand.
Anybody tried one of those trackers containing a sim that you can call and it transmits its location?
Yep. Have one hidden – it’s a
Yep. Have one hidden – it’s a dog tracker from Tractive and the battery lasts a good week or so when it’s been turned on.
Thanks for the replies folks.
Thanks for the replies folks. I’ll look into it ?
That is a GENIUS idea right
That is a GENIUS idea right there ??
NB: I’m going to check that idea out, thanks.
Without giving too much away
Without giving too much away it can be painted or disguised as a branded component. Hopefully in a case like the RP one it would take long enough to be found / removed to at least give a “waypoint” destination of where the bike was taken.
In the second RP mugging (moped gang vs. EScooter gang) there’s a video doing the rounds showing the scrotes “celebrating” with the bike back home on the Roehampton Estate. A quick Google suggests that the estate is a west London Centre of Excellence for moped muggers, murderers, drug dealers etc etc. The spate of semi recent bike thefts at the popular bike cafe in Richmond Park were also in part due to two of the estate’s residents.
2x modified Airtags going
2x modified Airtags going into my two bikes this weekend. I am thinking BB area
You’d need to put them onto
You’d need to put them onto rather than into, otherwise their signal will be shielded.
really, you tried?
really, you tried?
Some info in here in the
Some info in here in the comments
https://road.cc/content/review/apple-airtag-4-pack-286711
Slightly baffled by the
Slightly baffled by the mentality of these thugs. Is a bike thats been dragged down the road and scuffed to bits really worth it?
Or are they stripping it for parts?
Tbh, they could sell a 8k
Tbh, they could sell a 8k bike for £500 and it is a profit for them isn’t it. The same mentality where they cut through a bike frame.
Full DA DI2, carbon wheels,
Full DA DI2, carbon wheels, carbon saddle, GPS, handlebars… Ditch the frame completely and sell the parts (even scuffed parts in today’s market) and you’ve got a couple of grand there. The thugs doing the stealing are probably just getting a couple hundred from the guys doing the stripping and selling but hey, a hundred each for an afternoon’s work is pretty decent pay.
Saw this on Twitter, I guess
Saw this on Twitter, I guess some people are doing the same sort of thing with stolen bikes.
I wonder if they’ll be
I wonder if they’ll be bothered to investigate this? After all it is only a cyclist. Outfuckingrageous these fucknuggets need to be sorted now!!
Waiting for Nigel Garage to
Waiting for Nigel Garage to let us know that speeding cyclists are more of a problem in Richmond park
Hope you are ok Alexander !
Hope you are ok Alexander !
Horrible experience, I hope
Horrible experience, I hope it leaves no lasting scars for Alexander, physical or mental. A couple of times during lockdown, when the roads were really empty, I had two-up moped riders slow down alongside me on early morning rides round my manor (Peckham/Camberwell) and give me an appraising once over, then speed off. I’d like to think it was because I look like someone who can handle them, more likely they decided that 2014 Ultegra Di2 10-speed isn’t worth it for resale value. I do hope this isn’t going to become yet another thing to worry about on the roads, although to be honest I’m surprised it isn’t more common, the risks of getting caught just grabbing an unlocked bike off a cyclist would seem considerably lower than going at locks with angle grinders.
The usual racists are out in
The usual racists are out in force re. ‘Khan’s london’ and all that bollocks. Like there wasn’t a knife crime committed in London before he got in or that the police and justice departments haven’t been utterly decimated by right wing austerity the last 11 years…
EddyBerckx wrote:
I’ve aggravated the arthritis in my fingers over the years by explaining to them that there were more murders in London (with a smaller population) each year from 1990 to 2008 than there have been in any year of Mr Khan’s tenure, but the facts tend to be drowned in a chorus of “Londonistan” and “real [i.e. white] Londoners”.
BBC News this morning said he
BBC News this morning said he was riding a Specialized and I thought “I hope his sponsors don’t get wind of that”. Fake news!
He does have a habit of doing
He does have a habit of doing just this… wouldn’t surprise me if the perpetrators were ‘heavies’ sent by Canyon!
I must say this is pretty
I must say this is pretty nasty business, especially since I commute through RP at least two or three times pretty much every week.
I certainly hope they catch the bastards!
Guess it won’t exactly be easy to fence a bike like either of them that but that’s clearly not the point.
Best wishes to all affected by this violence.
I am amazed that this thread
I am amazed that this thread has developed into a discussion on knife crime across the country and the effectiveness of Sadie Khan. This is an existential threat to almost all cyclists. Don’t tell me that the average purchase price of a bike by readers of Road CC isn’t into the thousands of pounds. Combine that with the fact that most of the people committing such a crime probably struggle to tell the difference between a £1000 bike and a £ 10,000 bike and we are all at risk. At risk for doing no more than riding a bike ! We should be pressuring the police to do more, no just stopping the commuter school mum from doing 25mph in Richmond Park, spoiler alert virtually every car speeds in the park, or stopping vans in the park, thats like trying to keep the tide back. Police patrols until these guys are caught and jailed.
my bike was under 1k (C2W
my bike was under 1k (C2W scheme) but you are right in that the majority of non cyclist public reaction to it is basically it must be worth ££££ ,because it doesnt look like a lump of iron or a BSO from Sports Direct. But then you chuck on a Garmin, camera, carry a phone with you, probably credit cards, and thats before the cost of replacing the groupset, wheels, it does all add up and makes you uniquely vulnerable and targettable.
tbh Im surprised it hasnt become more of a thing, especially with the moped/ebiker gangs, as you wouldnt have thought 3pm was a particularly quiet period in the park for other traffic/people to be around.
Simonl wrote:
I think existential threat is a bit strong. Climate change is an existential threat. Losing a bicycle is not.
On the exact day that this
On the exact day that this poor chap was being ruthlessly robbed of his bike in Khan’s lawless London (the police were probably too busy acting as Khan’s chaperone as he took his dogs for a walk), I was on a bike ride 25 miles away in Essex and had an unfortunate incident where a spoke broke on my front wheel.
Now this spelt disaster for my ride as the front SLR-1 wheel only has 16 spokes, and one snapping makes the bike impossible to ride. Worse yet – I had to carry the bike as the front wheel wouldn’t even clear the loosened off brake calipers. I was on a single track side road, and a good 3 mile walk away from the nearest pub landmark that I could use as a landmark to get a taxi. I felt quite vulnerable as cars can come down quite quickly, with poor visibility in places.
Luckily a chap driving an orange transit was in the vicinity and saw me struggling down the road and slowed to help. He asked where I was going, and kindly offered to give me a lift back, provided I could fit my bike in the boot. I did so and eagerly climbed in, thankful of this selfless individual, this good samaritan who’d gone out of his way to help a vulnerable road user.
He mentioned how he’d had a run-in with a group of 4 cyclists arrogantly cycling two abreast down the road a couple of minutes earlier, and I commiserated with him, saying how it specifically states the highway code that cyclists should not do this. He then discussed top lawyer Nick Freeman’s idea on registration tabards that he’d heard mentioned on Talk Radio a couple of weeks earlier, and how it could help fight the scourge of law-breaking cyclists.
Anyway, I arrived home safe and sound, thankful of his help, and feeling great about how I’d been a great representative of the cycling community by showing both courtesy and politeness in my dealings with the motorist.
So why am I mentioning this story? Well it’s quite simple. If I’d have been in London rather than Essex, I might not be alive today to tell the tale. I certainly wouldn’t have happily jumped in a van with a stranger who I didn’t know, and that’s a sad indictment of the city it has become. We need more people like the good samaritan in London, but unfortunately he’d moved out of the area when he saw what it was becoming.
You’ve surpassed yourself,
You’ve surpassed yourself, there, Nigel.
Nigel achieved his objective.
Nigel achieved his objective.
He made up a story and found a way to get three of his regular subjects shoehorned in (Khan, Freeman and 2 abreast).
This highjacked a thread about violence against a cyclist into a conversation about cyclist behaviour and Khan’s security detail.
Transparent as always.
I’m kind of shocked he didn’t
I’m kind of shocked he didn’t mention that some of those evil abreast cyclists were on TT bikes…
That did cross my mind too.
That did cross my mind too.
Sniffer wrote:
Wait – this is a cycling forum??
Nigel Garrage wrote:
Before you spout any more of your hate tripe, you might care to peruse this:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/09/sadiq-khans-247-security-challenges-our-notions-of-non-racist-london
Khan sometimes needs up to fifteen trained anti-terrorist police to protect him, not at his request but at the orders of the police and secret service. His house is under 24/7 police surveillance due to credible death threats against him and his family, the Christchurch massacre gunman in his manifesto included a direct exhortation to people to have Khan killed…your continued mendacious attepts to smear him for having a very necessary security detail when going about all aspects of his professional and family life are pathetic and reveal just how close in thought and ideology you are to those he has to be guarded against.
Still, if you genuinely believe London is so dangerous that if your bike breaks down you won’t get home alive, and if that belief keeps you out of London, I can say on behalf on Londoners we’re pretty happy with that.
I have no problem with Sadiq
I have no problem with Sadiq Khan needing protection, but I do have a problem with him taking his dogs for a walk in a park 5 miles away when there’s a park literally across the road, wasting police resources and causing pollution. That is the definition of hypocrisy.
As for the rest of what you’ve written, there’s a group who constantly get called “scum”, “liars”, “lowlives” etc on this website, by yourself, and by the deputy leader of a major political party, leading to one of them being attacked on the streets of Manchester. The leader of this group has even had an effigy of his decapitated head paraded around on live TV. We Conservatives know more as much as any other group in society how it feels like to be “othered”, ostracised and demonised, so give it a break with your fake indignation would you?
Nigel Garrage wrote:
On the occasion in question Khan was advised that due to the numbers gathering in his local park it was not safe for him to walk there.
I challenge you to show anywhere that I have called Tories “scum” or “lowlives”. Liars, certainly. If you are seriously claiming that Tories are as “othered, ostracised and demonised” as Muslims and other ethnic minority groups in this country then you are either trolling as usual or deeply, deeply stupid. I suspect it’s a mix of both.
Didn’t you post a meme
Didn’t you post a meme calling Conservatives ‘lower than vermin’ the other day?
Yes.
Yes, you did.
Rich_cb wrote:
Did I post a famous quote from Nye Bevan, founder of the National Health Service? Yes I did. Do you know the difference between quoting somebody and saying something yourself? No you don’t.
So, by your definition it’s
So, by your definition it’s ok to post, for example, an antisemitic meme because you’re not the original author…
That’s not how it works Rendel but I think you knew that already.
Yes, antisemitic memes and
Yes, antisemitic memes and ones insulting the Tories are exactly the same, aren’t they, you poor little “othered, ostracised and demonised” group? Goodness me, I used to think that you and NG (possibly the same person) were quite dangerous because you had a thin veneer of superficial intelligence, but over recent weeks that really has worn off to show who you both really are. It’s not a pretty sight. Got to go and do some grownup busy work now so will leave you and your alterego to your lovein, I look forward to your lofty, patronising and increasingly desperate attempts at putdowns when I return. Hugs x
You have a responsibility for
Nice attempt at deflection Rendel.
You have a responsibility for the content you post.
If you post memes attacking any group then you cannot deny responsibility for attacking said group.
That was my point, you knew that, you also knew it exposed you as the hypocritical troll you are.
Think before you post Rendel, it might save you from quite so much embarrassment.
Those troublesome personality
Those troublesome personality traits again Rich.
Abusing people just because they disagree with you is not the best way to approach life.
We’ve been over this Rendel.
We’ve been over this Rendel.
You have simultaneously proved yourself both a troll and a hypocrite.
If you find an accurate description of your own behaviour upsetting perhaps that is something you need to reflect on.
As an aside I notice you’ve got no comeback to my actual point.
Those troublesome personality
Those troublesome personality traits again Rich.
Abusing people just because they disagree with you is not the best way to approach life.
How far you’ve fallen Rendel.
How far you’ve fallen Rendel.
It’s a shame.
When you first joined I honestly thought you’d be a positive addition to the forum.
Those troublesome personality
Those troublesome personality traits again Rich.
Abusing people just because they disagree with you is not the best way to approach life.
You can tell a lot about a
You can tell a lot about a person by how they react to being proved wrong.
Have a nice day Rendel.
Rich_cb wrote:
You can tell even more about people by how they insist that somebody else has been proved wrong solely on the basis of their own evidence-free judgment and prejudices, it’s very revealing of their troublesome personality traits.
Rich / Rendel, you two are
Rich / Rendel, you two are more alike than you realise.
Sniffer wrote:
They should get a room
hawkinspeter wrote:
D’you “ship” them? I do, most definitely…
Captain Badger wrote:
I’d never heard of that term before, so I’ve learnt something today
hawkinspeter wrote:
Friend first and a teacher second. Probably an entertainer third.
hawkinspeter wrote:
My medical advisors have told me to avoid being in any room with a Tory, it’s extremely bad for my blood pressure.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Have you tried an anti-inflamma-Tory?
Would it blow your mind to
Would it blow your mind to find out that I regularly change the political party I vote for?
It’s a crazy idea but I actually read the manifestos, watch the interviews and debates then make up my mind.
I don’t insult people for voting differently to me or insinuate that I’m morally superior in some way.
Intolerance of other opinions leads to the scenes we’ve seen at Chris Packham’s home this week.
It starts with insults, progresses to threats and ends in violence.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Old advice. I can’t believe you’ve been able to even see a GP for years
Yes, you should reflect on
Yes, you should reflect on that also.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
I’ve had a few laughs this morning but that one was one of the best. Thank you.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
Like Boris Johnson going for a ride in Stratford, when downing street ihas several parks nearby?
Or is that understandbale because the parks nearby are Royal parks and consequently anti cycling? Perhaps someone with influence could attempt to address that.
Eh? How is Boris Johnson
Eh? How is Boris Johnson going on a bike ride in any way congruent with Sadiq Khan deciding to take a convoy of security to walk his dog? To go on a bike ride you have to travel a couple of miles don’t you?
And unlike Khan, who pretends to be a cyclist, Boris Johnson is frequently shown enjoying riding a real bike.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
Well, we don’t know whether Johnson rode the seven miles to the Olympic Park or was driven there, because his spokesperson refused to clarify when asked. If he was driven there, then it is definitely a fair comparison to make (particularly given the lockdown restrictions in place at the time). If he rode there, then why wouldn’t his spokesperson confirm this?
Nigel Garrage wrote:
Did Boris Johnson not have a security detail? I’d be surprised if the PM just pootles across London with no security. So Khan must use his most local park for dog walking but Johnsons security team can follow him anywhere before he rides his bike.
It’s amazing, and hilarious,
It’s amazing, and hilarious, how often you post links that blow your own case clean out the water. So you’ve linked there to a Daily Mail article (tells us plenty about your reading habits) about how Mr Khan rode to work followed by his Metropolitan Police security detail in a Range Rover. I’ve already explained to you today how Mr Khan has a 15-operative security detail due to the threats against him that come primarily from rightist extremists; even the Daily Mail, that absolutely despises everything Mr Khan does, says in that very article you’ve linked to: “The Metropolitan Police provide round-the-clock protection for Mr Khan, who is unlikely to be able to refuse their heavy security measures.” Whether it’s walking his dog, riding his bike or even just sitting at home with his wife and daughters (where he has to have 24/7 protection due to extremist threats), Mr Khan has to accept the level of security the police and secret services deem suitable for him, perhaps you could consider that before castigating him for having a security detail with him when walking his dog, he wouldn’t be allowed out without one.
I don’t have any issue if Mr
I don’t have any issue if Mr Khan has decided that he requires protection, although I do note that prominent Muslim Conservative MPs don’t have the same requirements. I accept that he would naturally be a target of both the far right and Islamic fundamentalists for his liberal views.
My point was the rank hypocrisy he deploys on a virtually daily basis, in this case by declaring a climate emergency when taking a motorcade to take his dog for a walk needlessly miles away from his house.
I think you understand the difference and are just being a rather naughty boy!
Nigel Garrage wrote:
He hasn’t. The Met have. This is the point you seem determined to miss.
I think you understand the difference and are just being a rather naughty boy!
mdavidford wrote:
He hasn’t. The Met have. This is the point you seem determined to miss.
I think you understand the difference and are just being a rather naughty boy!— Nigel Garrage
According to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58734284 in a typically uncritical article, “After resisting protection when he was first elected mayor he (Khan) agreed to full-time police presence in 2017 when the risks to those around him had persuaded him to change his mind.”
That suggests it was Mr Khan’s choice to get protection. Indeed I don’t think the police can force you to take protection if you don’t agree to it. As mentioned several times though I have nothing against this decision at all, it’s his hypocrisy that irks.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
It only suggests that if you’re taking a deliberately obtuse reading of the word ‘choice’. In the same way that you or I might ‘choose’ to cycle on the side of the road where we’re not heading directly into oncoming traffic, or ‘choose’ not to take our holidays on Mars this year, if there’s not really a viable alternative, it’s not really a ‘choice’. As was pointed out, even the article that you previously linked to suggested he didn’t really have much option.
Either way, it’s not, as you’ve tried to misrepresent it, an extravagant act of self-indulgence, but an unwanted but necessary imposition on attempts to lead some semblance of a normal life.
I think you understand the difference and are just being a rather naughty boy!
Nigel Garrage wrote:
He has a lot of children, yes.
Oh, and look at the massive
Oh, and look at the massive difference in the crime rate in London compared with Essex (82.9 per 1000 compared with 80.6 per 1000). https://www.statista.com/statistics/866788/crime-rate-england-and-wales-by-region/
criminals from Essex commute
criminals from Essex commute into London like everyone else.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
How does he (or you) know they were arrogantly cycling? Maybe they were just cycling no more than two abreast the way the HC allows…?
brooksby wrote:
Because the Highway Code rule 66 states (emphasis mine) “you should… never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends.”
Nigel Garrage wrote:
So was it a busy road or a narrow road or on a bend? You didn’t say.
(And – how do you know they were arrogantly cycling? Did you speak to them, to ascertain their emotional state or their motivations?)
Anyone who does not doff
Anyone who does not doff their cap and stop is arrogant. Anyone who holds up a driver for 2 seconds is arrogant.
The rest of use would have explained to the driver why a group of 4 would chose to ride like that pointing out the various hazards and lack of sight lines. All the things most drivers fail to notice.
I had one last week over took me at 20 in a bend forcing me slow down. They then failed to stop in an obvious spot for an ambulance coming the other way forcing the ambulance driver to slow down. Really poor observation and planning.