Mathieu van der Poel’s victory has not only produced cheerful pictures. Some spectators could not live with the superior power of the world champion and pelted him with beer. There was also spitting towards Van der Poel. The organization of the Tour of Flanders hopes that the perpetrators can be identified and punished as quickly as possible.
“There were some downpours, yes,” Van der Poel responded briefly to Sporza afterwards. “I was actually so focused on my effort that it didn’t bother me much,” said Van der Poel, who in recent years has also regularly had to deal with Belgian fans in cyclo-cross who want to take him out of his concentration with cursing, spitting and throwing.
Organizer Flanders Classics hopes for punishment. “If the beer throwers are identified, we will file civil proceedings,” says Tomas Van den Spiegel. “We also did that in the Omloop. Beer was thrown at Marianne Vos on the Muur van Geraardsbergen. The beer throwers there were identified and we filed civil proceedings there.”
Joost Duhamel, chief of the Flemish Ardennes police, is willing to cooperate. “We have not determined this ourselves, but it can be seen on images of the match. Based on this, an official report is drawn up and the suspects can be identified.”
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Spectator seriously injured
It was not the only unpleasant incident during the Tour of Flanders. A young woman hit the ground hard after colliding with one or more riders. She was seriously injured, but not in life-threatening condition.
The brother of the woman who had to go to hospital after the collision responded via Facebook. “This could have been a lot worse.” He indicated that his sister is not to blame. ‘We have been racing with the whole family for YEARS, we have ridden in the peloton or come into contact with it every day for our work. Anke – together with mom – stood neatly next to the road, on the side verge. The police are currently investigating and several witnesses – including the paramedics behind the peloton – have clearly stated that the fall was not caused by her, but by another spectator who was standing on the road, which caused riders to swerve and hit Anke. .’
He continued: ‘How all these people dare to pass judgment in the comments, without having seen anything and even respond by saying ‘no pity’, it makes me sick (sorry for the word).’
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Tags: Mathieu van der Poel spat doused beer victory parade organization punish perpetrators Cycling
