Dutchman Nieuwenhuis sees Iserbyt's bike-stomping incident differently: "This is good for cyclocross"

The Dutch cyclocross champion watched the notorious incident in disbelief. "I’ve thought a lot about it, about what actually happened there. I think there’s more to it than just Eli’s burst of anger in that moment. Even if something like this happens, I don’t think that’s your first instinct unless there’s already something else behind it." According to Nieuwenhuis, Iserbyt’s decision to stomp on Kamp’s bike was likely driven by deeper issues. "If Eli and I had gone through the same situation, I don’t think it would’ve ended the same way. There was definitely more behind it."

Initially, the Belgian received only a fine, but the UCI later imposed a one-week suspension on Iserbyt. Nieuwenhuis felt this was entirely justified. "Before that second punishment, I was thinking about that 100-euro fine. I mean… If you literally just hire someone to wreck someone else’s bike at a World Championship, it costs you a hundred euros," the Dutchman laughed. "If he’d gotten away with just that, it would’ve been absurd. It wasn’t proportionate at all to other fines that are handed out."

The incident led Nieuwenhuis to review all the rules, based on which the 28-year-old Dutchman concluded that stricter guidelines are needed. "There’s nothing specific in there about sabotaging someone else’s equipment. The disciplinary committee may get involved, but there’s no defined penalty for that." Nieuwenhuis was quite surprised by this. "There are so many rules – I had to go through a lot of them just to see if anything even covered this. It surprised me that it wasn’t there, although, on the other hand, you don’t expect this kind of thing to happen."

Yet, Nieuwenhuis also saw a positive side. "This is actually good for cyclocross," he said, surprisingly. "We kind of missed this over the past few years. Everyone literally remembers the rivalries that happened twenty years ago. I grew up with a cyclocross season that was basically a soap opera all year long. Last year was just a bit milder. Now, everyone immediately knows there’s cyclocross again," he concluded.