Justice should be made - Man who threw bidon at Mathieu van der Poel's face has turned himself in to the police

In cycling there is not as much hate to the athletes as happens in other sports, however there are exceptions, and unfortunately due to the close contact spectators have with the riders, this can pose serious consequences. At Paris-Roubaix, a spectator used this proximity to throw a full bidon at Mathieu van der Poel's face. He has now turned himself into the police.

Van der Poel is perhaps the rider who has the most cases such as this happen to him, usually in Belgium where due to his history in cyclocross, his popularity is not as high as in other places. In both road and cyclocross events he's been spat on (such as the recent E3 Saxo Classic) or even thrown drinks, and this Sunday it happened again.

Whilst riding away to victory, the Alpecin-Deceunick rider has a bidon thrown at him during one of the cobbled sectors, and it didn't miss the target either. “This is attempted manslaughter. We can’t let this go. It was a full bottle, and it really hurt. If it had hit my nose, it would’ve broken it," he told Sporza after the race. 

Even with TV footage and spectator videos it was difficult to identify the spectator due the nature of the crowded area, however news from south Belgium this morning indicate that the man has turned himself in to the authorities according to Het Nieuwsblad.