'Give us the bike or we'll stab you’: UK cyclist recounts horror of attempted bike theft by masked motorcyclists

Attack in South London is the latest in a series of incidents involving violent thugs on motorbikes

Cyclist on a bike in London
(Image credit: Getty Images)

“I instantly felt like something was wrong - as they went past me they stared at me, then began talking to each other and slowing down." James Marshall, a cyclist from London, recalls the moment two weeks ago when two motorbike riders blocked his way and attempted to steal his bike. 

After the motorcyclists passed Marshall, they carried on along the road but the Penge Cycle Club member knew something was afoot. "My gut instantly told me it was a dodgy situation, even when they then sped up and disappeared out of sight,” he told Cycling Weekly.

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Tom Thewlis
News and Features Writer

After previously working in higher education, Tom joined Cycling Weekly in 2022 and hasn't looked back. He's been covering professional cycling ever since; reporting on the ground from some of the sport's biggest races and events, including the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships. His earliest memory of a bike race is watching the Tour on holiday in the early 2000's in the south of France - he even made it on to the podium in Pau afterwards. His favourite place that cycling has taken him is Montréal in Canada.