VIDEO: Middle fingers and thrown beer for Mathieu van der Poel at Oude Kwaremont; race organizer wants consequences for spectators

Cycling is a sport where fans can get extremely close to athletes for free but that is not always a positive thing. As has happened in the past, Mathieu van der Poel was bombarded by beer and middle fingers... This time at the Tour of Flanders, one individual video shows the difficult conditions that the World Champion had to navigate to win the Belgian monument.

Unfortunately this has happened in the past in similar races, but mostly cyclocross. Being the biggest rival of Belgian Wout van Aert and racing in Belgium, some fans within the country do not have a liking to the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider who dominated the competition this Sunday. A video recorded by a spectator shows van der Poel in a matter of seconds having middle fingers pointed at him and then being thrown beer by two other spectators in a matter of a couple seconds.

Dutch journalist Thijs Zonneveled reports that Flanders Classics CEO Thomas van den Spiegel - who organizes the Tour of Flanders - has said that there is the intention to identify and punish - most likely through a compensation - the spectators that take part in such activity.  

Fellow pro Thomas de Gendt responded also to this unusual video, writing: "Waiting for 6 hours in the rain and cold and then throwing beer at the leader. Some people have strange hobbies."