An Italian professional cycling has called on motorists to show more “respect” to cyclists, following a horrific incident at the weekend which saw a passing driver fire two shots at the squad’s riders in an apparent, and potentially catastrophic, act of road rage, before fleeing the scene.
The shocking attack – which miraculous resulted in no injuries – took place as members of the S.C. Padovani Polo Cherry Bank team, which races in cycling’s Continental third tier, were training on the SS12 road just outside Dolcè, near Lake Garda in northern Italy on Saturday morning, as part of their pre-Christmas training camp.
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’s Val d’Adige district.
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.
In a statement published by S.C. Padovani, the team said that the attack took place at the same time the squad’s sports directors, who normally follow the riders in a team car during training camps, had pulled over to wait for another group.
“This episode shocked the athletes, staff, and management, and could have had far more serious consequences,” the team said.
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.
Following the attack, the team’s president Galdino Peruzzo and sports director Dimitri Konychev linked the incident to the aggression and lack of “respect” often shown by motorists towards cyclists in Italy. In September, one of the team’s riders, 23-year-old Marco Palomba was injured in a collision involving a hit-and-run driver.
SC Padovani rider racing the 2025 Trofeo Rancilio (credit: SC Padovani)
“We are relieved that all the boys are safe and sound after what happened yesterday,” Peruzzo said in a statement on Sunday.
“This is a terrible incident that we hope will never happen again: the road is our boys’ training ground, and as a club, we have taken all necessary measures to ensure they ride safely.
“Unfortunately, faced with the madness of certain individuals, we really can’t do anything. What happened yesterday in Val d’Adige, moreover, is not the only incident of aggression by motorists against Padovani athletes who have been training in recent weeks.
“It 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.”
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.
“The Lake Garda area is one of the most hospitable and suitable for training during this period,” he said.
“Every day we carefully and meticulously plan our training routes to avoid the main roads and peak traffic times. It’s no coincidence that we moved to the Val d’Adige, on a smooth and fairly wide road that’s free of heavy traffic on Saturdays.
“Our 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.”
Saturday’s shocking incident near Lake Garda – and S.C. Padovani’s call for more respect on the roads – comes amid an increasingly pertinent debate concerning cyclists’ safety in Italy.
In August, in the wake of a grim collision in Puglia which left three cyclists dead and Italy with a “record” rate of cycling deaths in 2025, the president of the Italian Cycling Federation blamed the rising fatality rate on Italy’s roads on “motorists having less patience and being in more of a hurry”.
“Motorists 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,” Cordiano Dagnoni said. “Motorists don’t want to lose a minute, but don’t understand that thanks to their driving a cyclist could lose their life.
“Italy is pushing green transport like bicycling but has forgotten to install the bike lanes you see in northern Europe, and I don’t just mean painted lines on the road.”
Sara Piffer (credit: Mendelspeck)
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’s attack took place.
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. Her father, Lorenzo, told the press that Italy’s roads are a “Wild West”.
“I’d say we need more common sense. Unfortunately, they always realise it too late. Maybe to gain that minute they put other people’s lives at risk. I see things getting worse on the roads,” he reacted.
Davide Rebellin (credit: licensed CC BY SA 2.0 on Flickr by Tete de la Course)
Meanwhile, memories of the deaths of high-profile pro cyclists Michele Scarponi and Davide Rebellin 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.
And in March, an Italian professional cyclist said he is now “scared” to train on local roads after he was threatened, pushed off his bike, and punched in the face by motorbike-riding thugs at the end of a training ride with his brother, in what appeared to be two random, completely unprovoked attacks.
Luca Colnaghi, who races for UCI ProTeam VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, suffered a dislocated shoulder and fractures to his ribs in the back-to-back assaults, the second of which took place as he attempted to retrieve his earphones from the scene, only to find his attacker and a friend waiting for him.