The spectator, who was accused of "attempted manslaughter" by the incensed winner of the men's race on Sunday, hasn't been identified but reportedly expressed regret for his actions...
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| Mathieu van der Poel hit by bottle at Paris-Roubaix (credit: TNT Sports) |
A man has turned himself in to the police after Mathieu van der Poel was hit in the face by a bottle thrown from the crowd during his Paris-Roubaix win yesterday.
As the Dutchman soloed to a third successive victory at the Hell of the North he was struck by an item thrown from the crowd on a sector of cobbles, the bottle appearing to be a Visma-Lease a Bike-branded water bottle.
This morning Belgian news outlet Nieuwsblad(link is external) has reported a man turned himself in to the police in West Flanders and has expressed regret at his actions. He is yet to be identified but the report suggests he turned himself in in Mira, a spokesperson for the West Flanders public prosecutor's office confirming the news and a source suggesting: "He is said to be very ashamed of what he did on impulse on Sunday."
Bizarrely, the report also suggests the spectator travelled to the race on a supporters' bus of the Matej Matjes, a Flemish fan club for Slovenian cyclist Matej Mohorič. The board of the fan club declined to comment officially, but was keen to stress that the man is not a member of the club and the bus was open to the public.
The bottle-thrower was reportedly not known to the fan club's board and members have been told this morning that he is no longer welcome at any club activities.
The incident happened on the Templeuve-en-Pévèle sector, a bottle, which appeared to be a Visma-Lease a Bike-branded one, thrown at him from the crowd, the item striking him in the face.
Speaking to Sporza's TV cameras afterwards, Van der Poel called the attack "attempted manslaughter" and demanded the perpetrator face legal action.
"We can't let this pass," he said. "It was a full water bottle and it hurt a lot. If I get that water bottle on my nose, it's broken. Hopefully the police can identify the man, because there has to be a trial for this. This is attempted manslaughter. If the UCI does not take action, then we will do it with the team. This is something different than throwing beer."
Taking a somewhat different line to Van der Poel, Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager Philip Roodhooft suggested the bottle's thrower deserved "as little attention as possible".
"We will first see if the authorities can identify someone. But we shouldn't give it too much attention, when you see how many tens of thousands of people do appreciate what Mathieu and others are achieving here," he said.
The bottle appeared to be a Visma-Lease a Bike-branded item, the team of Wout van Aert taking to social media to express their disgust at whoever threw it.
"Throwing objects at riders who are giving their all — stop it immediately," the team said on social media. "Just enjoy the beauty of the race."
It comes after a spectator was caught on camera spitting at Van der Poel as he soloed to victory at E3 Saxo Classic — the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider also having a hat thrown at his bike by a spectator at last year's Paris-Roubaix, an incident which saw the woman responsible accused of intentional assault and battery.
The lawyer of the spectator involved in last year's incident claimed she "never [had] any intention to harm" to Van der Poel. To avoid prosecution she was offered a deal which would require her to admit wrongdoing and volunteer with Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix (The Friends of Paris-Roubaix organisation).
As with the 2024 incident, Van der Poel was unperturbed by the bottle throwing, continuing his charge to an eighth Monument win of his career, that despite a puncture on the Carrefour de l'Arbre. He and Tadej Pogačar had proved themselves the strongest in the race, distancing Van der Poel's teammate Jasper Philipsen on an earlier sector.
However, a crash saw the world champion cut adrift from Van der Poel, a later mechanical seeing the gap rise to over a minute as the two-time winner added a third cobblestone to his palmares.
- Dan Alexander
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