2023-09-28 12:06:34
It’s a grotesque situation that Philippe Gilbert surely never imagined he would experience one day. Last February 5, as told The Dauphiné Libéréthe former cyclist, winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, was making an ordinary trip by car with his wife and children when he was robbed by another motorist, near Manosque, north-east of Aix-en -Provence.
A young man of 20 overtook the family car, before fishtailing the 41-year-old rider at the wheel of his car so that he would stop. The motorist then cocked his air pistol towards the Belgian’s vehicle, but without firing, before finally leaving in a torrent of insults, but without physical violence.
Sentenced to six months in prison
“We can imagine the fear generated by this type of attack. In fact, the defendant had been playing chase with his future victim for several kilometers,” summarizes Me Thimothée Joly, lawyer from the Aix-en-Provence bar.
Despite the fear, Philippe Gilbert and his family had the good instinct to note the license plate of the vehicle in question, and to film the end of the incident. The perpetrator was quickly identified and the pistol found in the glove box of his vehicle. This would not be the man’s first attempt, always with the same mode of operation. The accused was finally sentenced this week to six months in prison with a simple suspended sentence with a ban on possessing a weapon for 5 years.
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