Mathieu van der Poel will not have great memories of these 2022 World Cups, played in Wollongong, Australia. This Sunday, September 25, during the road race, the Dutchman gave up after 30 km.
Above all, this weekend in the Antipodes was marked by an amazing stop for the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider. In fact, van der Poel spent the night from Saturday to Sunday, a few hours before the event, in a cell.
The former Tour de France yellow jersey was arrested after pushing two teenagers aged 13 and 14. The hotel immediately called the police.
The nervousness of the winner of the last Tour of Flanders was explained by the fact that the teenagers made noise and banged several times on the door of his room while trying to sleep on the eve of the World Cup.
Mathieu van der Poel appealed
The judge did not take into account his status as a professional athlete and the fact that the next day he participated in an international event as a mitigating circumstance.
Mathieu van der Poel was fined 1,000 Australian dollars (670 euros) and another 500 dollars (335 euros) for his behavior, Dutch television reported on Monday. OUR.
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Mathieu van der Poel’s lawyer has announced that he will appeal the decision, awaiting his client’s acquittal.