Visma-Lease a Bike 'shaken' after 'intoxicated' spectators attack team car

Visma-Lease a Bike staff were left “shaken” after two roadside spectators attacked their team car and tried to steal a bike from the roof during a race.

The incident happened on Saturday during the fourth stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali in Italy.

A video, shared on Instagram by Italian outlet Scannellatori Seriali, shows one of the pair on top of the car trying to free a bike. After the car brakes and propels the person down the windscreen, the other person on the ground can then be seen punching the driver’s window and shouting aggressively.

In a statement issued later that evening, Visma-Lease a Bike described the pair as “intoxicated supporters”. The team also confirmed they had reported the incident to the police and the Coppi e Bartali organisers.

“We take this incident very seriously, as it put the safety of our colleagues at risk,” team boss Richard Plugge said. “In the end, no equipment was stolen and no damage was caused. The colleagues in the car are okay, but understandably shaken.”

One of the staff members in the car was later said to be Gaëtan Pons, a sports director who joined Visma-Lease a Bike from the Unibet Rose Rockets this season.

Speaking to Cycling Pro Net the following day, Robert Wagner, another Visma-Lease a Bike sports director who was in a different car at the race, said the incident came “out of the blue”.

“There was the crash [in the race], and my colleague got blocked with the car, so he couldn’t move anywhere, and then these two guys were there,” Wagner said. “Obviously these two people jumped on the car and also tried to punish us in a way. No clue why.”

There have been no further statements from either the Coppi e Bartali organisers or the local police.

Jayco AlUla’s Mauro Schmid won the 41st edition of the race, which took place over five days across the north of Italy. The Swiss rider’s victory came thanks to a final-day raid, which earned him enough bonus seconds across the line to bunnyhop Ineos Grenadiers’ Axel Laurance at the top of the general classification.

Laurance won stages one and four, while Continental-level rider Filippo D’Aiuto (General Store-Essegibi-F.Lli Curia) took a brace of victories on stages two and three. Visma-Lease a Bike’s highest overall finisher was Anton Schiffer in fifth.