The Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel, one of the favorites for the rainbow jersey, abandoned the online World Cup race that takes place between Helensburgh and Wollongong (Australia), with a distance of 266.9 km, because the night before he had a incident in his hotel with two teenagers who did not let him sleep, which led to a police arrest.
Van der Poel (Kepellen, 27 years old), 2-time winner of the Tour of Flanders, the Amstel and Strade Bianche among other successes, was involved, according to the Sporza chain, in an altercation with two children who had been knocking on the door from his hotel room, whom he allegedly assaulted, which led to his arrest by the police.
“At approximately 10:40 PM on Saturday September 24, 2022, a man staying at The Grand Parade, Brighton-Le-Sands, was involved in a verbal altercation with two teenage boys, aged 13 and 14,” according to a statement. of the New South Wales Police, as quoted by VeloNews.
The statement explains that Van der Poel pushed both teenagers, one of them fell to the ground and the other was pushed against a wall causing a small scratch on his elbow. The hotel management called the police and St George Police officers came to arrest the broker.
“He was taken to the Kogarah Police Station and charged with two counts of common assault. He has been granted conditional bond to appear in Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday, September 27, 2022,” the statement said.
Van der Poel was released by police and returned to his hotel room around 4 am. He was granted bail on the condition that he appear in court on Tuesday.
"That's right, yes. There was a little dispute. I went to bed early and many children in the corridor of my room felt the need to knock on the door continuously. After they did it several times, I stopped the noises. I didn't ask them They kindly asked them to stop. Then they called the police and arrested me. Here they are very strict with these issues. I did not return to my room until four, "Van der Poel said before leaving.
The incident prevented Van der Poel from resting and in the first km of the World Cup race he decided to abandon the competition.
Christoph Roodhooft, manager of the Alpecin team, explained the incident that affected Mathieu van der Poel. "He hasn't slept, he was mentally broken" he assured on Eurosport before confirming that the Dutchman will have to stay at least 6 weeks in Australia due to the fact that a judicial process has been opened.
