On Sunday, a Dutch cyclist withdrew from a world championship road race after being charged with abusing two adolescent females.
Mathieu van der Poel, 27, will appear in court after being arrested and accused only hours before the 2022 UCI Road World Championships – a 266.9km race hosted in Wollongong, south of Sydney – where he was one of the championship favorites.
Police allege that the athlete violently assaulted the 13- and 14-year-old girls at the Novotel in Brighton Le Sands on Saturday night because they were playing a knock-and-run prank on his door while he was attempting to sleep before the race.
Officers from Sydney’s St George Command have confiscated Van der Poel’s passport in preparation for his appearance in Sutherland Court on September 27. He has been charged with two charges of child assault.
The rider who was not released from police detention until 4:00 a.m. withdrew from the race one hour in due to weariness.
On Tuesday, Mathieu van der Poel (seen on the right with his girlfriend Roxanne Bertels) will appear in court in Sydney.
Before the start of the race, he told the Belgian website Sporza, “I went to bed early, and several children in the hallway outside my room felt compelled to continuously bang on my door.”
After a few repetitions, I had had enough. I did not beg respectfully to cease. The police were then called, and I was taken away.
I did not return to my room until 4:00. Certainly not a great situation. It is a disaster, but I can no longer make any changes.’
The New South Wales Police will say that Van der Poel pushed the two females, forcing one to fall and the other to hit a wall, receiving a minor elbow graze.
The incident was reported to hotel management, who subsequently contacted police, according to a statement issued by the NSW police.
Shortly thereafter, officers from the St. George police area command responded and detained a 27-year-old man.
Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands crosses the Sea Cliff Bridge on September 25, 2022, during the elite men’s road race at the world road cycling championships in Wollongong, Australia.
Mathieu van der Poel (seen with Roxanne Bertels, his girlfriend) is accused of molesting two children.
Van der Poel was brought to the Kogarah police station, where he remained until 4am; the race was scheduled to begin at 10:15am.
Despite having slept for only a few hours, Van der Poel began the race, but withdrew at 11 a.m.
He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court in Sutherland on Tuesday.
The four-time cyclo-cross world champion and 2013 junior world road race champion was among the favorites to win the rainbow jersey.