On December 30, Atapuma was stopped by two men who demanded he handed over his BMC bike to them. Atapuma struggled with the two – one of whom had a knife – and was cut on his left hand and wrist. The two were later apprehended by local police officers.

"It was a stressful event and I was lucky the police were able to get the two guys," Atapuma later explained.

BMC Racing Team Chief Medical Officer Dr. Max Testa explained the 2013 Tour de Pologne stage winner is wearing a protective cast on his arm and will have to ride indoors the next ten days. The injuries, however, are not expected to affect Atapuma's racing program, which begins at the Tour Méditerranéen in France in February. He is scheduled to return to Europe in a few weeks to attend a training camp in Spain.

"Darwin is in good spirits, but a little disappointed because the training was going well," Testa added. "He had done a five-hour mountain bike ride the day before he was attacked."