Mathieu van der Poel discusses 'spitting' incident: "I knew in advance that it was not the best way to solve something like that"

Mathieu van der Poel knew that the spitting incident in Hulst would end up being controversial but does not regret it. The World Champion felt that he had to do something in the situation that developed.

“I knew in advance that it was not the best way to solve something like that and I knew that it would be on screen, but I don't think I should and cannot just let everything happen,” van der Poel told Wielerflits this morning . “Obviously it's not the smartest thing to do, I know that myself. It certainly won't solve it, but doing nothing won't solve it either. I don't think you should let things like that pass you by.”

Today, he faces Wout van Aert in a tough and muddy circuit in Baal. Van der Poel is eager for one of the last battles between the two that will take place this winter. “And I think it (the mud, ed.) will get even worse the more the course is ridden. It will be a difficult assignment anyway. But it is not necessarily something that I am less able to handle, in principle I have to be able to handle everything. Gavere was also very tough, for example. There it is a little closer together, there is a little less looking at each other in the background. So I expect a fun and exciting battle.”

Commenting on his new year's eve, van der Poel admits that he was not uptight with the schedules and allowed himself to relax a bit. “I went out for a nice meal and a drink with friends, so it was a success. It's cross season and the belt can't be tense all year round. So I had planned to celebrate New Year's now. I'm happy to be back in Baal. I haven't been there for a long time, but it's a good time to do it," he concludes.