According to the Star:<br /><br />"Robert Hunter, the South African cyclist of the year, has laid charges of assault and reckless driving against a motorist and his family who allegedly attacked him in what he describes as the worst case of road rage he has ever seen.<br /><br />The altercation left Europe-based Hunter needing surgery to his hand, which could disrupt his pre-season training for up to six weeks. He had a pin inserted into his hand on New Year's Eve. Yesterday, when The Star spoke to him, he was still bewildered by Monday's attack.<br /><br />"I was on a training ride out to Muldersdrift and back with two mates when a guy in a car screamed past us and almost took out one of my friends," said Hunter. "When we got to the stop street, I told him to watch where he was driving and he just lost his cool. He stopped his car in the middle of the road and started swearing at us. He picked up his gearlock and threatened to hit us.<br /><br />"So we held his door shut to keep him inside the car and told him to relax, but he said he was going to get us. I'd say he was about fifty."<br />Hunter said that the motorist began following them and they decided to ride to Honeydew police station.<br /><br />Hunter called his brother and asked him to meet them on the road and escort them. The three cyclists waved the motorist over and told him they were going to the police station, which apparently sent him into a new rage.<br /><br />"He waved his gearlock at us again, so we took it off him and threw it into the bush. I then reached in and took his car keys out of the ignition and told him he could retrieve them from the police station."<br /><br />Soon after Hunter's brother arrived and began driving behind the cyclists, two cars pulled up behind his brother. "They followed us for about 10km. They came screaming past my brother and drove right into us. The one car hit me and I ended up on the pavement. Two big guys (who identified themselves as the son and son-in-law of the older motorist) got out of the cars and attacked us. I defended myself and broke my hand in the process."<br /><br />Hunter then went to the police station, where he laid charges. The older motorist has laid a charge of attempted assault. One of the assailants was taken to hospital with a suspected ruptured eye socket.<br /><br />This is the latest in a series of road rage incidents between motorists and cyclists. In February last year, a driver ploughed his car into a group of cyclists on a training ride in Cape Town. The cyclists claimed the motorist swerved into them twice, injuring 16 of the 80 cyclists in the bunch.<br /><br />Hunter is the only South African to have competed in the world's biggest annual sporting event, the Tour de France. <br /> "<br /><br /><br />