“The only motive was idiocy”: Two men who pushed cyclists into ditches for “fun” handed a two-year suspended prison sentence

Two men have been handed a two-year suspended prison sentence in France after pleading guilty to the series of incidents in which they targeted cyclists and pushed them 'for fun', injuring at least 12 cyclists in the last eight months.

Some of the cyclists targeted during the series of attacks, which happened over a period of several months in the Haute-Garonne department in south west France, suffered injuries such as a fractured wrist and collarbone, La Dépêche reports.

One victim reported being slapped or punched by the person in the car, while another victim reported being pushed into a ditch by a passenger in a car whose driver had followed him "very slowly" for a few minutes.

"The only motive was idiocy"

Brice Zanin, the lawyer representing several cyclists attacked, suggested the only motive for the incidents could be "idiocy" and said the reports the men responsible had laughed suggested cyclists were being targeted for "fun".

"The only motive was idiocy, because once the victims had been pushed off their bikes, the men drove off laughing in their car. It was idiocy and a desire to have fun to the detriment of others," he said.

Both men arrested, aged 20 and 22, deny any involvement in the attacks but will stand trial in Toulouse. They have said they hold no bad feeling towards cyclists.

In one victim's account they recall being followed slowly by the driver of a vehicle as they rode along a rural country lane, before the passenger "suddenly pushed me down".

"It was April… I'd gone out on my bike for the afternoon," they explained. "When I got to a little country road… I felt a car was following me silently. It was driving very slowly behind me when it could easily have overtaken me. Then after a few minutes it drove up beside me. The car's passenger suddenly pushed me down."

Another victim, aged 51, said: "I moved to the side to let it pass, it slowed alongside me. I felt a violent blow to my left ear." A third said contact was made with their feet and bike, but "seeing that I didn't fall, the passenger reached out his arm and violently pushed me to the ground", while a fourth cyclist says they had tomatoes thrown at them.

If found guilty the men could face up to five years in prison for organised violence.

Multiple similar incidents have been reported in the United Kingdom in recent years, one victim telling road.cc in 2019 that he fears "someone will die" unless "the craze" of cyclists being pushed by vehicle passengers is curbed.

Two years later, ultra-cyclist Chris Hall completed his 700km charity ride from Land's End to Lowestoft, a month after his first ended when he was pushed off his bike in Andover.

Last year female Ironman athlete Katie Good was pushed from her bike into a ditch by a passing car's passenger. She suffered a broken collarbone, which required surgery, in the attack.

UPDATE: Despite initially denying any involvement in the crime, both men, aged 20 and 22, have now pleaded guilty and apologised, The Connexion reports.

The court in Toulouse heard that the they have been targeting cyclists in the Save valley in southern France since the last eight months, and have pushed over at least 12 cyclists so far. 

They were handed a two-year suspended prison sentence.