A Danish man who has spent the past four years cycling around the world has named Australia as the country most aggressive towards cyclists after he was abused three times by drivers in Sydney.



Thomas Andersen said his worst experience was in the final 20km of his year-long stay in Australia, when three different people wound down their car windows to shout “fucking cyclist” at him.

Andersen, 31, said the aggression was unlike anything he’d experienced while cycling more than 3,100km through 25 countries.

“India was probably the worst in terms of crazy traffic but I didn’t see anything like I did in Sydney, where people wound down their windows and yelled verbal abuse at me,” Andersen told Guardian Australia.

“In other countries, cars won’t give you much space but the drivers go away with smiles. But in Sydney some things that aren’t very nice are yelled at cyclists.

“This is a new kind of experience for me. I’m from Denmark where everyone cycles. Abusing a cyclist there would be a bit like abusing someone for wearing blue jeans or something.”

Andersen said while he had a “wonderful experience” in the rest of Australia, camping as he made his way to Sydney through Alice Springs, Adelaide and Melbourne, he was left confused by the seemingly random animosity shown towards him.

“You don’t see that many cyclists in Sydney – there are cycling lanes but then they go back on to the street and don’t continue,” he said. “It’s about the infrastructure and also the culture.

“Australia is a big country and people like to drive cars, but there could be more cyclists in Sydney. It’s a good place to cycle, it has beautiful places with the harbour and ocean.”

Andersen said he had spoken to other cyclists in the city who reported similar abuse. The relationship between drivers and cyclists has come under focus after a spate of cyclist deaths in Sydney this year.

The Dane, who is now in Ecuador, will spend Christmas in Colombia before heading to Canada and then back to Europe. He expects to spend another year on the road.