Film crew at Rio cycling road race test event robbed at gunpoint

A film crew following a test ride for the Rio 2016 Olympic cycling road race was robbed at gunpoint yesterday, according to Brazilian news reports.

Two armed men on motorbikes approached a group of five crew, before robbing them of camera equipment and a mobile phone.

The team were preparing to capture footage of some 100 riders from 20 countries as they passed on the 164.9km road race course.

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The Casa Digital agency told Reuters they were not authorised to give details of the incident, but incidents of this nature are relatively common in Rio.

Reuters reports the number of robberies in the city rose 25 per cent last year, the biggest jump since records began in 1991, according to official figures.

The event was beset by difficulty earlier this week as protests against the country's president forced organisers to re-route.

Officials have said 85,000 law enforcement personnel will be on duty during the 2016 Olympic Games, which are the first to be held in South America.

First and third place in the event went to Frenchmen Alexis Vuillermoz and Romain Bardet respectively, both of AG2R La Mondiale, with second place awarded to Belgian Serge Pauwels (MTN Qhubeka), while Team Sky's Ben Swift, who led the British effort, came ninth.