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Man who spat at Mathieu van der Poel during E3 Saxo Classic set to be fined but escapes further punishment

Cycling
by Kieran Wood
Wednesday, 16 April 2025 at 09:43
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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.”

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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'.

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Matej Mohorič fan club distances itself from Van der Poel bottle incident, helps identify perpetrator: “We want to be very clear: the perpetrator is not a member of our fan club”Matej Mohorič fan club distances itself from Van der Poel bottle incident, helps identify perpetrator: “We want to be very clear: the perpetrator is not a member of our fan club”
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3 Comments
OCexile 16 April 2025 at 02:07+ 576

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.

JBlake 16 April 2025 at 05:33+ 9

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.

Mistermaumau 16 April 2025 at 10:23+ 3544

Eli was attacked by a guy wearing a Belgian scarf, was that the intoxication effect?

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