![\"SC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sc-padovani.jpg\" "\\"SC")
SC Padovani rider racing the 2025 Trofeo Rancilio (credit: SC Padovani)<\/p>\nAn Italian professional cycling has called on motorists to show more \u201crespect\u201d to cyclists, following a horrific incident at the weekend which saw a passing driver fire two shots at the squad\u2019s riders in an apparent, and potentially catastrophic, act of road rage, before fleeing the scene.<\/p>\n
The shocking attack \u2013 which miraculous resulted in no injuries \u2013 took place as members of the S.C. Padovani Polo Cherry Bank team, which races in cycling\u2019s Continental third tier, were training on the SS12 road just outside Dolc\u00e8, near Lake Garda in northern Italy on Saturday morning, as part of their pre-Christmas training camp.<\/p>\n
Footage of the incident, shared by the team on social media, shows a BMW driver pull up alongside the seven riders as they navigate the twisting road, located in Italy\u2019s Val d\u2019Adige district.<\/p>\n
According to the squad, the motorist then rolled down his window and produced a gun, before firing two shots at the cyclists. In the footage, one of the riders can be seen ducking as a shot appears to be fired. The motorist then drives off into the distance.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In a statement published by S.C. Padovani, the team said that the attack took place at the same time the squad\u2019s sports directors, who normally follow the riders in a team car during training camps, had pulled over to wait for another group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis episode shocked the athletes, staff, and management, and could have had far more serious consequences,\u201d the team said.<\/p>\n
When the riders returned to the team hotel, they provided testimonies of the incident to the squad, which also collected any images and evidence to submit a report to the local police.<\/p>\n
Following the attack, the team\u2019s president Galdino Peruzzo and sports director Dimitri Konychev linked the incident to the aggression and lack of \u201crespect\u201d often shown by motorists towards cyclists in Italy. In September, one of the team\u2019s riders, 23-year-old Marco Palomba was injured in a collision involving a hit-and-run driver.<\/p>\n
SC Padovani rider racing the 2025 Trofeo Rancilio (credit: SC Padovani)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are relieved that all the boys are safe and sound after what happened yesterday,\u201d Peruzzo said in a statement on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a terrible incident that we hope will never happen again: the road is our boys\u2019 training ground, and as a club, we have taken all necessary measures to ensure they ride safely.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, faced with the madness of certain individuals, we really can\u2019t do anything. What happened yesterday in Val d\u2019Adige, moreover, is not the only incident of aggression by motorists against Padovani athletes who have been training in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should be remembered that last September, Marco Palomba was also hit by a hit-and-run driver; it is necessary to raise awareness among all those who get behind the wheel of a more respectful culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Konychev, a four-time stage winner at the Tour de France, added that the team does its best to ensure the safety of their riders on the road and to ease tensions with drivers by avoiding congested areas as much as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lake Garda area is one of the most hospitable and suitable for training during this period,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day we carefully and meticulously plan our training routes to avoid the main roads and peak traffic times. It\u2019s no coincidence that we moved to the Val d\u2019Adige, on a smooth and fairly wide road that\u2019s free of heavy traffic on Saturdays.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur athletes wear visible clothing and have lights on their bikes to make themselves visible to motorists. We followed the riders from the first to the last kilometre. Every now and then, with the team car, we give drivers the chance to overtake, but more respect is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
>\u00a0“Motorists don’t want to lose a minute”: Italian Cycling Federation blames rising deaths on impatient drivers who “cannot stand to slow down for cyclists”<\/a><\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s shocking incident near Lake Garda \u2013 and S.C. Padovani\u2019s call for more respect on the roads \u2013 comes amid an increasingly pertinent debate concerning cyclists\u2019 safety in Italy.<\/p>\n In August, in the wake of a grim collision in Puglia which left three cyclists dead and Italy with a \u201crecord\u201d rate of cycling deaths in 2025, the president of the Italian Cycling Federation blamed the rising fatality rate on Italy\u2019s roads on \u201cmotorists having less patience and being in more of a hurry\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMotorists will slow down if they are behind a tractor but for some reason cannot stand to slow down for cyclists and increasingly resort to insults,\u201d Cordiano Dagnoni said. \u201cMotorists don\u2019t want to lose a minute, but don\u2019t understand that thanks to their driving a cyclist could lose their life.<\/p>\n \u201cItaly is pushing green transport like bicycling but has forgotten to install the bike lanes you see in northern Europe, and I don\u2019t just mean painted lines on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n In January there was more anger and calls for road safety reform and education after a teenage racing cyclist was killed by an overtaking motorist during a training ride in Trentino, the same region where Saturday\u2019s attack took place.<\/p>\n 19-year-old Sara Piffer, who was set to enter her second year with UCI Continental team Mendelspeck, was training with her brother when she was fatally struck<\/a>. Her father, Lorenzo, told the press that Italy\u2019s roads are a \u201cWild West\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say we need more common sense. Unfortunately, they always realise it too late. Maybe to gain that minute they put other people\u2019s lives at risk. I see things getting worse on the roads,\u201d he reacted.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, memories of the deaths of high-profile pro cyclists Michele Scarponi<\/a> and Davide Rebellin<\/a> are still painful for the Italian cycling community, the lorry driver responsible for Rebellin’s death having been jailed for four years in October 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Sara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sara-piffer-2.jpg\" "\\"Sara")
Sara Piffer (credit: Mendelspeck)<\/p>\n![\"Davide](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/davide-rebellin-licensed-cc-sa-2.0-flickr-tete-de-la-course.png\" "\\"Davide")
Davide Rebellin (credit: licensed CC BY SA 2.0 on Flickr by Tete de la Course)<\/p>\n