Clément Delcros (Image credit: Clément Delcros)

A young French rider was shot on Tuesday evening while out training in Toulouse.

Clément Delcros, who rides with the AVC Aix-en-Provence team, took a bullet to the shoulder from a gunman in a passing car before riding to the nearest hospital for treatment.

The 18-year-old said he heard a bang and felt pain in his shoulder but was so shocked he didn't initially realise he'd been shot. With blood flowing down his arm he made the short journey to hospital, where serious injury was fortunately ruled out.

Delcros expressed his shock and anger on his Facebook page and then spoke to French cycling website DirectVelo about the incident.

"I was at the end of a training session and was a kilometre from home. I was riding at 50km/h on a gentle downhill. We were on a 'normal' road. I saw a car driving on other side of the road and once it was alongside me, I heard a bang," he recounted.

"I saw I had a wound in my left shoulder. At first I thought someone in the car had thrown a stone or something as a joke. I really didn't realise straight away. I was bleeding profusely and I soon stopped. People asked me if I needed help but I was near a hospital so I went straight there, on my bike."

Scans at the hospital confirmed Delcros had a bullet in his shoulder. It hadn't struck anything serious but had lodged deep, and it was decided it shouldn't be removed.

He returned for a further check-up on Wednesday and later filed a complaint with the police.

"'I'm OK. I'm able to lift my arm. I'm sad and a bit shocked. When I realised, I said to myself, 'there really are some idiots out there'. I was shocked and disappointed," he told DirectVelo.

"I don't understand it. No one has anything against me. Why did someone shoot me? It really was a gratuitous act. I'm going to file a complaint but I doubt it will be of much use. There's not much chance of finding the culprits. I don't even know the make of their car."

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