A training group ride near Turin turned into a horror scene on Saturday morning 08 August after a driver allegedly attacked a group of six amateur cyclists twice with his car, seriously injuring two of them.
The attack happened around 09:45 on the provincial road linking Lanzo Torinese to Coassolo, in the Valli di Lanzo area roughly 30 kilometres north of Turin. The riders, who had set out from San Mauro Torinese, Settimo Torinese and San Raffaele Cimena for a morning ride, were travelling at a relaxed pace when a car repeatedly passed them while sounding its horn.
One of the cyclists reportedly gestured his disapproval, prompting the driver to brake, reverse and drive into the group, striking the lead rider. When several cyclists gave chase, the driver allegedly made a U-turn and drove into the group a second time while other riders were still attending to the first cyclist he had struck.
Four cyclists were injured, two seriously. Two victims were airlifted to the CTO trauma hospital in Turin, while the other two were taken to San Giovanni Bosco Hospital. One of the more seriously injured riders, aged 60, suffered a fractured femur, an open leg fracture requiring surgery, and facial and chest trauma.
The driver, a 73-year-old local man, turned himself in to the Carabinieri and was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder before being placed under house arrest by order of the Ivrea public prosecutor’s office. A breathalyser test reportedly came back negative, while toxicology results are pending.
The Turin attack echoes a case Gran Fondo Daily News reported last month in Texas, where American boxer Hannah Rapp, 26, was killed during a training ride. On Saturday 18 July 2026, Rapp was cycling in Brazos County when a driver who had passed her stopped, reversed and struck her. The driver, 31-year-old Charles Medina, was arrested and charged with manslaughter.
Both incidents allegedly involved drivers reversing into cyclists after roadway disputes, highlighting the potentially deadly consequences of confrontations between motorists and riders.
Gran Fondo Daily News will update this story as details emerge.
Photo Credit: La Stampa
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