Details emerge over Van der Poel's hotel altercation; Alpecin-Deceuninck release statement

Mathieu van der Poel has had a terrible week in Australia with both races severely impacted by outside factor, but he has managed to travel back to Europe. However, his case appears to be far from concluded, as details emerge from his altercation, and the possibility of being further punished exists.

Alpecin-Deceuninck have issued a statement regarding the incident: “We have taken note of the events that took place in Wollongong in the past 48 hours. Needless to mention everyone loses here, and we can only regret that. Initially, our focus was on providing legal assistance on-site and on helping Mathieu van der Poel to return home quickly."

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"Now that has happened, we want to get a clear picture of the course of events, through inspection of the complete file (we don’t have the court documents yet) and a conversation with Mathieu van der Poel and those involved at Team NL. Based on this, we will determine which further steps to take," it was said.

Van der Poel was involved in an altercation with two young girls the night before the men's Elite Road Race at the World Championships, and was posteriorly arrested. Although he started the race the next morning, he was not part of the action as he abandoned within the first hour. With his passport taken, the risk of staying in Australia for up to six weeks was very real, but this Monday his lawyer managed to advance the trial, and having pled guilty he payed a fine - of around €1000 - and managed to have his passport returned just in time to travel back home.

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However, the case is far from done, as details emerge on the incident. Although they have not been publicly released, security camera footage has been observed by NCA NewsWire who have read the court documents. As had been known, the pair of girls repeatedly knocked on the Dutchman's door despite calls from his girlfriend to stop, and eventually van der Poel himself went into the hallway to stop the situation. 

According to the Daily Telegraph, the court documents read as follows: "He waited for the victims to knock on his door and chased them into their hotel room, following close behind them. Van der Poel chased the girls, causing one of them to run into a corner and crouch down while covering her face. The cyclist ran up to her and grabbed her by both arms, squeezing them and pushing her against a wall while yelling at her, causing her to suffer a minor carpet burn graze to her right elbow and redness to her left forearm. Van der Poel noticed the second girl trying to leave the room and pushed her against a wall using both hands."

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“We would like to emphasize that respect for others, inside and outside the peloton, is and always has been a core value of Alpecin-Deceuninck," the team issued. "That is why we want to follow up on this in an appropriate way. Only then will team Alpecin-Deceuninck and Mathieu van der Poel communicate about this again.”

As details quickly emerge on the case, more is set to be known in the upcoming days, aswell as any further consequences to the Dutch superstar.

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❗️Race update @mathieuvdpoel 🇳🇱 has decided to abandon the Men Elite Road Race here at @wollongong2022. #Wollongong2022

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