"People are so nice..." - Lorena Wiebes reacts to internet hate after her Track World Championships crash
Track Cycling
Despite a very long list of victories in 2025, the season of Lorena Wiebes doesn't end on a high as she would've hoped for. The new world champion in Omnium and Scratch did not complete her three-peat in Madison for which she partnered up Lisa van Belle. In fact, the Dutch favourites crashed during one of the relays while in provisional lead and the race ended for them earlier than planned.
National coach Nick Stöpler called the fall a "combination of circumstances" to the NOS. "I'm incredibly upset about it, and I feel so sorry for them. I really wanted them to win, after all the work all those people and organizations put into it. It went incredibly well, with a lot of control..."
"It was going fast, and it was at a difficult moment when they took over. Perhaps they came in a bit too slowly, and Lorena doesn't have the experience to recognize the difference in speed. Because there's not quite enough pressure on the front wheel, they end up crashing into each other."
"That happens to every pro rider at some point, but you'd prefer not to have it at a World Championship," said the national coach, who was able to assess the damage immediately after the crash. "Nothing seems broken, but they fell very hard. And if I'm disappointed, you can imagine how they feel. They seem healthy, so that's good." After the race, Wiebes appeared with her hand stabilized, hopefully only as a precaution.
Internet haters
Wiebes herself took to social media on Sunday to express her disapproval. "Luckily, I have a strong body and everything is okay under the circumstances," she wrote alongside a screenshot of a hate message on Facebook. In it, a "fan" wished Wiebes as many broken bones as possible and called the Dutch woman the "most unsportswoman in existence." "People are so nice!" Wiebes cynically commented.
Lorena Wiebes and Lisa van Belle on the ground after their incident
This is still an afterplay of the Gravel World Championships in Limburg from two weeks ago. There, the Dutch women once again raced one against another, with Yara Kastelin's late attack essentially closing the gap to Shirin van Anrooij who had been on a solo attack for a long time at the time. This allowed Wiebes to sprint for victory - a scenario where Wiebes doesn't make mistakes.
"I have to be honest: I didn't say anything to Yara. I only had contact with Julia Kopecky. I do feel sorry for Shirin, being caught in the last 500 meters," Wiebes said after that race.
Response from Dutch federation
The KNWU (Royal Dutch Cycling Union) already felt compelled to issue a press release after earlier online hateful comments. "We are shocked by the way some of our riders were personally approached via social media after the race. We believe it is completely unacceptable that athletes who put in their full commitment and pride are confronted with derogatory, insulting, or intimidating comments."
"This can never be the intention of such a tournament or event within our cycling community. Insulting or belittling riders via social media is completely unacceptable. The KNWU stands unconditionally behind its athletes and condemns this behavior in the strongest terms. The KNWU calls on everyone to not tolerate inappropriate behavior on social media," said chairman Maurice Leeser.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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