Tudor Pro Cycling sprinter Arvid de Kleijn has said he was knocked out on a training ride last month, and suffered a broken nose, after being attacked by teenagers.
In an interview with Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, De Kleijn said a group of 10 people, whose ages he suspected to be around 15 to 17, shouted abuse at him and referenced cancer, the disease his father died from in February.
When the Tudor rider tried to confront the group, he said, “things went from bad to worse”.
“They’d probably been drinking, and perhaps taken something else as well,” De Kleijn said. “There was absolutely no point in trying to talk to them, and when I decided to cycle away, they started attacking me.
“One of them was standing behind me on the right on a fatbike and hit me, knocking me out. It turned out my nose was broken.”
“It’s particularly sad that you increasingly see this generation showing no respect for their fellow human beings,” he said.
“Nine of [the group] were detained… Unfortunately the person who hit me left quickly and has not yet been found. The trial will unfortunately take a while, but I’m glad they’re not just letting it go.”
De Kleijn is next expected to compete at the German one-day Rund um Köln on 17 May.
