German rider Danilo Hondo, currently in training while serving a two-year suspension, was injured on Monday when struck by a car in what appears to be a road-rage incident in Somerset West, near Cape Town, South Africa. Tony Brown, an acquaintance of Hondo, and Matthias Kessler, were training with the German sprinter on the Paarl Vallei Road when a car drove past and abused the riders. Both Brown and Kessler said the driver, aged around 65, waited for them to pass before ramming Hondo's bike "with intent".
The extent of Hondo's injuries is not yet known, and Hondo himself isn't sure when he'll be riding again. "The doctors will have to check me out," he said. "Sometimes you get internal injuries from a fall like that - I'm not so worried about crashing, you can crash in any country. The problem is that drivers can do this."
In a strange twist Somerset West police said that the driver of the vehicle called the police station after the incident and reported the cyclists attacking him, something denied by both Brown and Kessler. Hondo is reported to be taking action against the driver.
