Thijs Zonneveld: "If we don't tackle this hard with all of cycling, the next step will be that someone pulls a handlebar from under a rider"

The assault on Mathieu van der Poel during Paris-Roubaix was a shocking incident and one that with luck did not have worst consequences. A spectator - who has in the meantime turned himself into the police - threw a bidon at the former World Champion's face during the race finale, and many argue that this kind of behaviour has to be tackled immediately.

"Urine, beer, a cap and now a full water bottle. The next thing is that someone pulls the handlebars from under a rider. If you throw a water bottle in someone's face, then that is with the intention of making someone fall," Zonneveld argued in the In de Waaier podcast. "It is always good if Alpecin-Deceuninck itself files a complaint, but in these types of competitions it is also important that riders and teams address their supporters. That is very difficult, because it is a grey area. Who is your support base and to what extent are you responsible for it?"

In cycling it is very unfrequent this behaviour, but because of the proximity that it is possible to have with the athletes, the consequences can be very big. In this case, the full bidon could've broken the Dutchman's nose if it had hit him there according to him, or it could've also caused a race-ending crash.

"I have to formulate this well, but a very, very, very small part of the Flemish cycling public finds it difficult to deal with setbacks," he argues. The man has been identified as Belgian, according to Het Nieuwsblad. "Especially if they have had one too many. We have also seen that at the Cyclocross World Championships. Spitting, throwing beer, touching: Van der Poel has also experienced that."

"In football, this has been covered up for a long time and hooligans were not addressed. As a result, it got out of hand and entire sections have been taken over by half and full criminals. In football, people just come to the sport to riot."

The Dutch pundit also points out the unsettling nature of the fact that what was thrown was a Visma bidon, which could also bring further bad publicity to the team of Wout van Aert. "I am curious who this person is. It is also very annoying for Visma that a bidon of their team was thrown, because it is immediately linked to the team and Wout van Aert".

"That is why I thought it was very good that Visma posted online a minute after it had happened that this is unacceptable. It is also really important that riders and a team say it themselves. It is not only up to Van der Poel to say something about it."

"This is not that Grandpa and Grandma lady (Opi Omi, ed.), because she didn't see what the situation was at the time. That was stupid and bad, but without harm. Only this case... You don't go to Paris-Roubaix if you don't like the race. If we don't tackle this hard with all of cycling, the next step will be that someone pulls a handlebar from under a rider," he warns.