🎥 Perpetrator in van der Poel's 'attempted manslaughter' case first denies, then expresses 'deep regret and shame'

Last year, Van der Poel was hit with a cap in Paris-Roubaix, after already being pelted with beer (or possibly urine) during the Tour of Flanders. This year, there had already been an incident in Flanders, with a spectator spitting at him during the E3. In Paris-Roubaix, a Visma | Lease a Bike-branded bottle seemed to strike hard. The throw came from the right side of the road, just after Van der Poel had gone off solo at the front. He briefly turned his head to the left, and the bottle hit him squarely on the cheek.

Fortunately, the two-time winner of the Hell of the North didn't seem too affected by the impact. He stayed out front solo, while Pogacar continued his furious chase. The gap was only twenty seconds, and the race was still wide open at that point. Pogacar eventually threw in the towel after having to switch bikes following his crash. Even Van der Poel's own bike change (due to a flat) didn’t stop his momentum.

Visma | Lease a Bike responded immediately to the incident. The Dutch team strongly condemned the act on social media. “Throwing objects at riders who are giving their all—this has to stop immediately!” the team fumed. “Just enjoy the race!” Clear words from the squad. That it's not an easy time to be a Wout van Aert fan is evident—but even the "Killer Bees" acknowledged this had gone too far. Other teams also spoke out after the race.

After the race, Van der Poel spoke to NOS and responded emotionally. “I hope they identify the person and press charges, because I got hit in the face with a bottle at 50 kilometers per hour. That’s enough to break a jaw. We can’t just let that slide,” the Dutchman said firmly. He sounded even more forceful on Sporza: “It was a full bottle, so it really hurt. He could’ve broken my nose — this is attempted manslaughter. If the UCI doesn’t prosecute him, our team will.”

On X, a hunt for the possible attacker immediately ensued...Furthermore, former cyclist Staf Scheirlinckx, who is involved in the CPA cyclists' union, told AD that the perpetrator had been quickly identified. Other fans along the side of the road, including those from Matej Mohoric's fan club, immediately advised the man who threw the object to go to the police, and according to Het Nieuwsblad, he did so on Monday at the police station in West Flanders. "He allegedly expressed his regret," the newspaper reported.

It was already clear to the audience that a group of people present did not give off good vibes. One fan contacted HLN. "About half an hour before Van der Poel passed, 10 to 15 young people arrived. I don't think they were Flemish, but French. They were making a lot of noise and seemed to be intoxicated, so I had a bad feeling. I felt something would happen."

And sure enough, it happened... The fan captured the passage of Van der Poel on camera and has already shared the footage with Alpecin-Deceuninck and the municipality of Templeuve-en-Pévèle. Alpecin team leader Philip Roodhooft is initially waiting for the authorities to act. "We believe it is primarily up to the authorities to intervene. We would prefer not to give any attention to those who commit these offenses. They don't deserve it. We look at the 99.9 percent of fans who do enjoy this." According to HLN, the perpetrator faces a maximum fine of 45,000 euros and a prison sentence of three years.

On Monday, Rutger Goeminne explained to VRT News. Goeminne is the chairman of Matej Matjes, a fan club of Matej Mohoric from Ghent. On Sunday, the fan club traveled by bus to northern France to watch Paris-Roubaix. The man who threw the bidon at van der Poel was on the same bus.

"I didn't see anything myself," Goeminne explains. "I was standing 50 meters further along the same stretch of road, but after the race, you watch the images on Sporza. Several members of our fan club were in the front row, clearly cheering for Mathieu van der Poel. They were quickly labeled as the ones to blame on social media. That was completely wrong."

"There were rumors before we got back on the bus," he recalls from the day before. "We confronted him, but he denied it. We soon realized that he was the perpetrator. Last night, I passed on the message that he should go to the police, and we would do it for him if he didn't. At five o'clock this morning, he contacted me to say he would turn himself in. He expressed his deep regret and said he was ashamed."

The fan club itself distanced itself from the perpetrator's behavior. "Because the wrong people were being singled out online, and because our board members were being harassed," said Goeminne. The fan club clearly distanced itself: "This is a disgusting act. We are a fan club for a cyclist, not against cyclists. Therefore, the person in question has been informed that he is no longer welcome at future activities or bus trips organized by the Matej Matjes fan club."