A CYCLIST has shared shocking images of his injuries after he was kicked off his bike at 26mph, in hopes that witnesses will come forward.

Ian Thompson was riding his bike on the road between Toronto Lodge, in Bishop Auckland, and Howden-le-Wear, on May 21, when at about 5.15pm he was kicked off by a motorist at speed.

The individual was driving a red Honda motorbike, and was suspected to have been travelling in convoy with a silver Vauxhall Vectra.

The 51-year-old, who works at Lanchester Dairies, said: “I do about 7,000 mile a year, and I do a lot of road miles autumn through to spring, then winter time I tend to try and keep on the tracks.

“I travel all over the North-East, it varies from 20 miles to a hundred plus.

“On the day, I’d done 45 miles, and I’m a pretty pacey rider - last time I looked at my Garmin which tells the speed, I was going 26 mph.

“I came off the roundabout at Toronto Lodge, and I was heading along that road, ten minutes away from home, and the next thing I remember is getting up off the grass.

“I can’t even remember the incident happening, or getting hit.”

Witnesses told police that Mr Thompson was kicked off his bike at speed.

Paramedics treated the cyclist after he was left with ankle and arm injuries.

He said: “I’ve been lucky, even though I was badly scraped and bruised.

“As the week’s gone on, I’ve got a bruise that stretches from above my calf to the top of my hip, and that’s actually where the person put their foot when they kicked me.

“All I remember is getting back up off the grass and somebody coming towards me to help.

“Because it happened in a matter of seconds, you don’t react quickly to get the registration details.

“To be quite honest I was just so shocked, I didn’t know what had happened.

“When I was told by the witnesses that the motor biker had kicked me off, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“My body was aching and hurting all over, and the ambulance was there within ten minutes - I was put on a stretcher.

“I was bleeding on my ankle, knee, hip and shoulder blade, and have really bad bruising - I think my thumb is broken as it is still swollen.”

The cyclist is encouraging people to come forward about the incident.

He said: “People should come forward, because at the end of the day, it could have been a 70-year-old man going along there who isn’t as fit as me.

“The people who have done this have no regard for people - they could have killed me.

“There was a clean crack through the back of my helmet from the incident - I could have broken my back or anything.

“I count my lucky stars because I feel I have come away lightly.

“Traffic won’t phase me, because this wasn’t an accident, it was a deliberate act.

“I’m not going to let something like this disrupt my pleasure.”

Enquiries are ongoing and police are appealing for people to come forward.

To give any information about the event, call 101 quoting incident reference number 345 of May 22.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800-555111.