Tour de France and Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish says he and his family are “extremely distressed” after a group of masked robbers assaulted him and threatened his wife at a knife point raid while his children were present.
Four intruders broke into Cavendish’s home in Essex in what police described as a “targeted incident” in the early hours of the morning, while he was recovering from significant injuries from a crash at a track event that took place in Belgium.
Fortunately, the family were left with no serious injuries, but the burglars left stealing a Luis Vuitton suitcase and two high-value watches.
Police were called at 2.35am on Saturday, November 27. No arrests have been made to date.
“This incident has left our family extremely distressed – not just myself and Peta but our children as well, who feared for their lives and are now struggling with the after-effects,” Cavendish said in a statement.
“No-one should have to experience the sort of violence and threats made against us, let alone this happening in a family home – a place where everyone should feel safe.”
He added, “The items taken are simply material goods and our priority at the moment is to make sure we all recover from the incident as a family, and we know this is likely to take some time.”
Essex Police have made an appeal for anyone who was in the Ongar area of Essex between 02:00am and 02:40am on November, 27 to come forward with any information that could help their investigation.
