Man who spat at Mathieu van der Poel during E3 Saxo Classic set to be fined but escapes further punishment
CyclingWednesday, 16 April 2025 at 09:43
Mathieu van der Poel has sadly been no stranger to crowd trouble of late. One of these notable example came at the E3 Saxo Classic when the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader received a disgusting spit from one of those in attendance at the road side. Thankfully, the culprit is set for repercussion for his actions although admittedly, they aren't quite as severe as some may have hoped.
The man who spat at Van der Poel during the E3 Saxo Classic on March 28th has been identified by police and has now fully admitted to doing the act. According to police in Ronse, Belgium — where the incident occurred — he now faces a fine of up to €350. It is also noted however, that the public prosecutor has decided not to pursue further legal action that could have led to jail time.
"People who do that really shouldn't come to races," Van der Poel said of the incident afterwards. “Unfortunately, I can't change what happened. It's disappointing, especially because it's not the first time this has happened to me.”
The incident took place roughly 30 kilometres from the finish, while Van der Poel was riding solo at the front of the race, en route to his eventual victory. A spectator, beer in hand, spat at him on the Karnemelkbeekstraat, with the moment was captured by TV cameras and the culprit's face subsequently broadcast all over the world in replays posted to social media.
As mentioned, Van der Poel has sadly been the target of multiple acts of aggression from supposed cycling fans recently. Just last weekend, during his history-making win at Paris-Roubaix, he was struck in the face by a full water bottle thrown from the crowd in the cobbled section at Templeuve, again while leading the race solo.
That man too has now been identified and handed himself over to police. The result of that is likely to worse than just a fine however, especially after Van der Poel himself called the incident 'attempted manslaughter'.
Infelizmente ainda temos estes comportamentos no desporto. 🇳🇱 Mathieu van der Poel isolado na E3 Saxo Classic é cuspido por um espectador.#E3SaxoClassic pic.twitter.com/zEsduBmLTj
— falso plano (@falsoplanoblog) March 28, 2025
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Apr 06, 15:11
0
Popular news
Latest comments
- From what I've been seeing and reading Jonas is on great form. I expect a great Tour again this year. These guys are made to race against each other.awp05-05-2025
- Vingo is not injured, it is just not had a good preparation going for the Tour.
James2631805-05-2025 - Just can’t slow down that girl ;-)Mistermaumau05-05-2025
- "become one of the peloton's top sprinters"? -- he's anything but a sprinter, and the admins would obviously know this. So much on this site feels increasingly like it's been written by AI (and then barely reviewed by a human afterwards).boodyb05-05-2025
- Ayuso couldn't work well with. Period, ahahaha. All depends on TT stages. If Ayuso take a lot of advantage over Adam, then he will be the leader, no problems inside the team BUT if Ayuso/Yates are tied... a lot of problems can emerge in the group.
maria2024202405-05-2025 - Pogacar in La VUelta? IMHO, no. Tadej is so in love with his Rainbow t-shirt. Most likely, after the Tour, he will rest and prepare very well the World Championship Race, as he does every year, then Almeida will have his opportunity in La Vuelta.maria2024202405-05-2025
- The main UAE goal is the 4th Tour de France, then Almeida have to work with Pogacar preparing the Tour. In addition, UAE has to make concessions to Ayuso. The young man is very talented and ... impatient: he wants big opportunities NOW or maybe he could leave UAE.maria2024202405-05-2025
- Tadej wasn’t in top form either in 2023mij05-05-2025
- What a simplistic analysis. Nobody knew in advance Almeida would finally have his streak. Nobody can know if this streak is perhaps also DUE to knowing he’s not on Giro duty. Nobody knows if with all his efforts so far this year, he’d have enough left for 3 weeks of Giro, - especially now that he’s “become a sprinter” :-) And finally, after all the success and effort and then trying to win the Giro, how much would he have left to be there for Tadej in the Tour. Trust me, between letting Almeida win a GT and improving Tadej’s chances of securing another Tour, you can bet UAE have their priorities. And that’s all without even considering if he’s maybe putting on a good show with the intent of increasing his negociation value come transfer time.Mistermaumau05-05-2025
- Doctor’s waiting room syndrome, easy to fix.Jumpyjohn05-05-2025
l don’t live in europe, i live in southern california. can someone explain why this stuff happens to van der poel and seemingly ONLY van der poel? i don’t need anyone to say it’s wrong or awful or whatever. i’m looking for a real cultural explanation of this phenomenon from someone who has a much deeper understanding of the forces at play than i do. thanks in advance.
Someone else may be able to give better local context, but I don't think these type of incidents only happen to MVDP - although, it does seem to happen more often to him. Eli Iserbyt had beer thrown at him earlier this year, or Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard had chips thrown in their face during last year's Tour de France. The common theme is alcohol between most incidents, combined with being outdoors for a prolonged period of time. MVDP is also not very well-liked by many Belgian fans for his success, particularly against a rider like Wout. It's likely a combination of today's society, alcohol, some dislike towards the rider, and just being stupid. Hopefully real consequences might dissuade others from doing similar things.
Eli was attacked by a guy wearing a Belgian scarf, was that the intoxication effect?