A motorist wielding a large wooden bat attacked a group of cyclists after screaming abuse at them, one of the riders has claimed.

A triathlete, who requested to be known only as Brad, said he was riding with his coach and five other cyclists on Point Nepean Road at Rye on the Mornington Peninsula on Saturday morning when they were confronted by a man on the street, waving the bat.

He said the same man had driven past them earlier, screaming abuse.

The driver continued about four kilometres down the road, before stopping and waiting for the cyclists with a wooden bat in his hands, Brad said.