Mathieu van der Poel was not quietly sleeping on the eve of Sunday’s elite men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships but was instead at the police station following an alleged noise disturbance and subsequent altercation at his hotel, according to a report in Sporza, who spoke to the rider before the Helensburgh start.
“It’s true, yes,” Van der Poel said in the Sporza report. “There was a small dispute. It was about noisy neighbors and they are quite strict here.
“I wasn’t back in my room until 4 o’clock. That’s certainly not ideal. It’s a disaster, but I can’t change anything anymore. I’m trying to make the best of it.”
Van der Poel abandoned the elite men’s road race inside the first 35km of the 266.9km event.
As the peloton completed the coastal section of the race and passed the line in Wollongong – a little less than 240km later will mark the finish – Van der Poel could be seen hanging off the back of the bunch with a teammate who appeared to be trying to help him through.
It was not much later as the race was in the Mount Keira circuit that the commentary team on the race broadcast said it had been confirmed that he was out of the race.
Cyclingnews reached out to the New South Wales police regarding the incident at the hotel.
The New South Wales police have said that while they can not confirm who was involved, they did confirm a man at the hotel where the Dutch team is staying was at 10:40pm allegedly involved in a verbal altercation with two teenage girls who were aged 13 and 14.
“It’s further alleged the man then pushed both teenagers, with one falling to the ground and the other being pushed into a wall causing a minor graze to her elbow,” said NSW police in a statement to Cyclingnews.
“Hotel management were notified of the incident who then called police.
“Officers from St George Police Area Command attended and arrested a 27-year-old man shortly after. He was taken to Kogarah Police Station and charged with two counts of common assault.”
The statement added that he was granted conditional bail to appear in court on Tuesday 27 September 2022.
Cyclingnews has reached out to the Dutch team for comment.
Van der Poel entered the men’s elite race firmly among the list of favourites, as while there is nearly 4,000m of climbing the centrepiece of the focal point of the race, the 12 corner heavy city circuits radiating out from Wollongong, is the short but punchy climb of Mount Pleasant.
“I went to bed early and many children in the hallway of my room found it necessary to knock on the door continuously,” Van der Poel explained to Sporza. “After a few times I was done with it. I didn’t ask so nicely to stop. Then the police were called and I was taken.”
The Dutch team, which was staying in a hotel in Sydney overlooking Botany Bay, have not had an easy run so far in the Australian Road World Championships, with a disastrous mixed relay team time trial on Wednesday.
It started with the men’s squad of Van der Poel, Bauke Mollema and Daan Hoole being quickly reduced to two as Mollema had a mechanical. Then things got even worse as the women’s grouping of Annemiek van Vleuten, Ellen van Dijk and Riejanne Markus set out to try and make up time. Van Vleuten immediately crashed, fracturing her elbow. However, she bounced back to deliver a stunning victory in the elite women’s road race on Saturday.
Race officials confirmed that Van der Poel had abandoned the elite men’s race, with the commentary team on the race broadcast saying it had been confirmed that he was out of the race.
More to follow…
