It was a real thunderclap that sounded before the start of the world championships in Wollongong in Australia. The Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel was arrested by the police at his hotel during the night after an altercation with children according to our colleagues from Sporza. The latter would have made noise in the hotel where the Dutch were staying and would have knocked on the door of van der Poel’s room.
A young girl was reportedly slightly injured in the arm, after which the police were called and boarded the winner of the last Tour of Flanders. Heard a good part of the night by the Australian police, he was finally released conditionally at dawn: “I was back in my room at 4am,” he explained to Sporza before the start of the event, “It’s not ideal. It’s a disaster but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll do my best.”
Later in the day, the police communicated about this case. This confirms the altercation without naming the runner (“a 27-year-old man”). Van der Poel would have jostled the two young girls (13 and 14 years old) who were making noise in the corridors. One fell to the ground, while the other hit a wall, causing the minor injury. Warned, the hotel would then have warned the police.
If he was therefore at the start of the event, Mathieu van der Poel gave up after only 30 kilometers of racing, at the first crossing of the finish line.
But this whole affair is not yet over for the Dutchman who will have to appear before a local court on Tuesday. He cannot leave Australian territory because his passport was confiscated until October 23.