A spectator who threw a bottle at Mathieu van der Poel during Paris-Roubaix on Sunday has handed himself into Belgian police, Nieuwsblad has reported.
Eventual winner Van der Poel was not put off the incident, which occurred on the eighth cobbled sector at Templeuve around 33km before the finish line in the Roubaix velodrome, despite appearing to be struck in the face with some force.
But he condemned the spectator afterwards, comparing his actions to “attempted manslaughter”, and said that his Alpecin-Deceuninck team would be looking to press charges.
“We can’t let this pass,” he told Sporza after the race, which he won 1min 18secs ahead of Slovenian world champion Tadej Pogacar. “It was a full bidon, and it hurt a lot. If I take that bidon on my nose, it’s broken.
“Hopefully, the police can identify the man because there has to be a trial for this. This is attempted manslaughter. If the UCI [Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling’s governing body] doesn’t take action, then we will do it with the team.”
The Dutchman was alone from 38km out after a mistake by Pogacar and soloed to victory, becoming just the third rider in history to win three consecutive editions of the brutal cobbled race, after Frenchman Octave Lapize (1909-11) and Italian Francesco Moser (1978-80).
Flemish newspaper Nieuwsblad reported on Monday that the West Flanders prosecutor’s office said a man had handed himself in in the MIRA Police Zone, which includes the areas of Waregem, Anzegem, Avelgem, Spiere-Helkijn, and Zwevegem.
Paris-Roubaix takes place on French soil but the involvement of the West Flanders prosecutor’s office suggests that the perpetrator was a Belgian national.
The UCI released a statement later on Monday saying the governing body and cycling’s various unions representing riders, race organisers, and teams – the CPA, AIOCC and AIGCP respectively – “unanimously condemn, in the strongest terms, the unacceptable behaviour” of the spectator.
“The UCI and representatives of cycling’s families express their support for the rider and will explore, in conjunction with the competent authorities, all the legal channels at their disposal so that such behaviour is duly and severely punished, as has already been the case in the past,” the statement continued.
“They will take the same action in the future against any act that threatens the physical integrity of riders.”
Van der Poel has been the target of disgruntled fans before, having been repeatedly doused with beer at races throughout his career and spat at by a spectator en route to victory at the E3 Saxo Classic earlier this month, with police opening an investigation into that incident.
Someone in the crowd at Paris-Roubaix last year also threw a cap at him, which landed near his back wheel but fortunately did not disturb his ride to victory, and in this edition a roadside spectator was also pictured throwing a cup of liquid at him on the Carrefour de l’Arbre cobbled sector.
