Cyclist whose gear was stolen on France-Spain route warns of light-flash trick

He is warning anybody thinking of driving in that area to be aware and exercise extreme caution

20:26, 12 Jul 2025

A cyclist who had thousands of pounds worth of equipment stolen in a roadside scam has urged anyone else driving in the area to exercise caution. Global Cycling Network's Conor Dunne[1] was driving along the AP7 road that links Barcelona with France when the drama unfolded.

Dunne, 33, had just ridden in the Traka gravel race and was in the car with a cameraman just outside Girona. The Irish rider explained that a car then came up behind them flashing its headlights, while the driver gesticulated for them to pull over.

When they eventually did so, the driver distracted them both while another person hiding in the car crept out and stole valuable camera and recording equipment, along with their personal belongings.

As they drove off, they threw Conor and the cameraman's passports out of the window to deter them from giving chase. In a video on GCN[2], Conor said Spanish police told him it was a little-known trick that many people fell for - he was apparently not the first person that day to fall victim to it.

Officials reportedly believe that a gang is operating in the area, stealing from outsiders who are not familiar with the tactic. Conor said: "I have learned that this is a really common thing to happen on the AP7 motorway between Girona, the French border, and Barcelona.

"I have never heard of it in my life.

I've had teammates living in Girona and Andorra. I feel so stupid, but I have never heard of it, and I don't know anyone who has heard of it either.

"I thought it was the police so I thought I was doing the right thing. You don't have to stop for an unmarked police car if you are not 100 per cent sure it is a police car, so the advice is just to drive slowly to a police station," Conor continued. "Apparently these guys are part of a highly organised ring."

The problem is now so severe that there are signs urging people not to stop for other vehicles.

Dunne said that the police even had photographs of the suspected perpetrator, which he picked out.

The British Embassy in Madrid has previously issued a similar warning, urging holidaymakers to "watch out for ruthless gangs of modern-day highway robbers who are preying on people driving foreign-registered vehicles and hire cars[3]."

In a two-year period, police in the Catalonia region of Spain dealt with 126 British victims of robbery on the AP-7 motorway between the French border and the Valencia region.

Describing exactly how it unfolded, Conor said: "We headed to the airport, got on the motorway, and literally played one song on the radio as we came down the slip road onto the motorway and we started relaxing for a bit. Then everything just happened.

"The time was weird - it was just all so fast. The guy came up next to us in a car and pointed at my front wheel.

We had been filming in a rough, gravelly car park so I just thought maybe I've got a puncture and this guy came round me put his hazards on to slow our vehicle down. We slowed to about 60KPH on the motorway and I just thought 'what the hell is going on?'.

"I went round him and carried on and he was really animated, saying 'you need to stop' and pointing at the car. It was a new car, no scratches, and part of me thought maybe he was an undercover cop and he has seen my car has a problem and he wants to pull me over.

There was only one guy so I just stopped.

"We pulled over, stayed in the car, and he came out and seemed friendly enough. He was pointing at the wheel saying 'you need to come and see the wheel'. In hindsight, you feel so stupid but at the time, I thought i would get out and see the wheel.

It was just one guy and you could see through the back of the car and there was nobody else. We got out and were looking at the wheel, and then, in hindsight, it was so clever how he did it. He distracted us, shouted in Spanish over the noise of the motorway, and my Spanish couldn't keep up.

"He brought us round to the back of the car - this was all 20 seconds - and suddenly he just left.

We got back in our car then we saw him throw some stuff out and Liam said, 'why is he throwing stuff out of our car?' and we realised it was our passports and our wallets and then the penny dropped. We looked back and all of our bags had gone, my bag with my personal belongings, entire camera kit, two camera bodies, all the lenses, brand new drone, the entire film from the Traka which was in the hard drives in the bag.

"I think what's key about this that was the main thing to trip us up, was that we always thought there was just one guy in the car that stopped with us the whole time. We had our eyes on him always, but he was just distracting while a second hidden guy -or two - got out and stole from the other side of our car without us seeing.

It's crazy how he managed this."

References

1. ^ Global Cycling Network's Conor Dunne (www.globalcyclingnetwork.com)
2. ^ In a video on GCN (www.youtube.com)
3. ^ urging holidaymakers to "watch out for ruthless gangs of modern-day highway robbers who are preying on people driving foreign-registered vehicles and hire cars (www.mirror.co.uk)