Yesterday a former Dutch triathlete and age group world champion – Remco Grasman – was violently robbed on his time-trial bike. “I planned to go for a time-trial ride this Saturday, so I was testing all the gear.” His training ride took a sudden turn of events when a minivan cornered him, resulting in Grasman crashing. When he got back up, two men grabbed his bike from between his legs, threw it into the minivan, and drove off. “This was a planned crime. I wouldn’t refer to these men as thieves, but as criminals.”
Grasman was shocked by the intimidating situation and would have never expected this to happen in the Netherlands, which is generally considered a safe place. “Although I feel alright, I am still feeling some fear. I just have to get through that for now.”
Before Grasman even noticed what was happening, the bike was gone. “I was riding around 40 km/h on a quiet country road when a white minivan approached me from behind, passed me and then cornered me. I was in my time-trial position and therefore I needed some time to hit my brakes. Because of that, I couldn’t stop smoothly – or I would have crashed into the car – and I fell…right on my hip prosthesis.”
“This must have been a planned robbery”
Once Grasman crawled back up and processed the situation, he saw the two men standing next to him. “They took the bike from between my legs before I could even do anything. They wore beanies and facemasks, so I couldn’t see their faces. The police told me later that this must have been a planned robbery.”
After the minivan and his bike were gone, Grasman needed some time to calm down. “I was completely shocked and couldn’t think. Eventually I was picked up by a car and the police came. They immediately started to search the neighborhood, but it hasn’t yielded anything yet.” Grasman doesn’t understand what they plan to do with this bike anyways: “This bike is custom-made for me. This bike has value only for me.”
