Mathieu van der Poel was again pelted by a spectator in Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. The cyclist from Hoogerheide was hit in his face by a bottle that was thrown from the side. Father Adrie van der Poel is angry. According to him, it goes from bad to worse. “Eventually he will feel threatened,” he told the Belgian sports channel Sporza about his son.
The incident happened with 33 kilometers to go, while the flying Dutchman rode solo in the lead. Mathieu was hit in his face, but drove on and won the cobblestone classic.
Van der Poel has been pelted more often in recent years. Two years ago with a cup of urine during a cyclo-ride N Hulst, last year with beer during the Tour of Flanders and during the previous edition of Paris-Roubaix he got Hats in his wheel. Last March he was spit during the E3 Saxo Classic. To name just a few of the many examples.
“This is very bad for him.”
Father Adrie van der Poel also saw again on Sunday. “Of course that is very bad for him,” the former field driver told the Belgian Sporza. “Eventually he will feel threatened. It starts with a cup of piss and then it goes from chips to a full bottle. Where will this stop?”
He believes that the organization should take measures. “They put a pole with a string along the cobblestone strips. Maybe they just have to put that five meters further.”
“This is attempted manslaughter.”
Mathieu van der Poel himself does not leave it at it. He wants a process to come, he said after the match in front of the camera at Sporza. “This is attempted manslaughter. I drove 50 kilometers per hour. If the bottle ends up on my nose at such a speed, my nose is broken. If the UCI does not continue to him or her, we will probably do it with the team.”
