UCI road cycling world championships: Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel arrested over late-night altercation
A favourite for the road race world championship taking place in Wollongong has been charged with two counts of common assault for an alleged attack on teenagers.
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A Dutch cyclist who was one of the favourites to win the road race championship taking place in Wollongong on Sunday has been arrested and charged with assaulting two teenagers in Sydney.
Mathieu van der Poel said he was detained by police after he confronted two teenage girls who began knocking on his hotel room at the Netherlands team hotel at Brighton-Le-Sands.
He told the Sporza website that he became annoyed by the disturbances so confronted the girls.
“It’s true, yes. There was a small dispute. It was about noisy neighbours and they are quite strict here,” Van der Poel told Sporza.
“I went to bed early and many children in the hallway of my room found it necessary to knock on the door. After a few times I was done with it. I did not kindly ask to stop. Then the police were called.
“I wasn’t back in my room until 4 o’clock. That’s certainly not ideal. It’s a disaster, but I can’t change anything anymore. I’m trying to make the best of it. It is on little sleep that I will race, hopefully on adrenaline.”
Van der Poel was allowed to take part in Sunday’s world title race and began the race as scheduled but withdrew about an hour into the 266 km race from Helensburgh to Wollongong.
Charged with two counts of common assault, he was summoned to face court on Tuesday.
NSW Police confirmed in a statement that a 27-year-old man was arrested and charged with two counts of common assault.
“About 10.40pm (Saturday 24 September 2022), a man was at a hotel on The Grand Parade, Brighton-Le-Sands, when he was allegedly involved in a verbal altercation with two teenage girls – aged 13 and 14,” NSW police said.
“It’s further alleged the man then pushed both teenagers, with one falling to the ground and the other being pushed into a wall causing a minor graze to her elbow.
“Hotel management were notified of the incident who then called police. Officers from St George Police Area Command attended and arrested a 27-year-old man shortly after.
“He was taken to Kogarah Police Station and charged with two counts of common assault. He was granted conditional bail to appear at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday 27 September 2022.”
The incident happened hours after inspiratoinal Dutch cycling star Annemiek van Vleuten produced one of the bravest sporting performances ever witnessed in Australia when she won the women’s road race at the UCI world road cycling championships - riding with a broken elbow.
Wincing in pain, the 39-year-old caught her younger rivals napping when she sprinted into the lead less than 500 metres from the finish of the 164 km race from Helensburgh to Wollongong then held on to pip Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky and Italy’s Silvia Persico by less than a second.
Already a multi world champion and Olympic gold medallist, van Vleuten couldn’t believe what she had achieved.
She almost withdrew from the race when she fractured her right elbow last weekend when her front tyre exploded during the team time and she crashed heavily onto the pavement but courageously pushed ahead.
Unable to stand up on her pedals and with only a bandage protecting her injury, she timed her run to perfection to reclaim the coveted rainbow jersey after riding through agonising pain and a torrential storm.
“It was hell,” van Vleuten said. “I could not get out of the saddle.
“I had to stay seated so my legs were exploding on the climb.
“I still can’t believe it, I’m waiting for someone to tell me it’s not true.”
The highest-placed Australian was Alex Manly, who finished 15th, while Brodie Chapman was 21st and Amanda Spratt 27th after she led the peloton at the start of the final lap.
“What can I say about Annemiek? Absolutely incredible, amazing,” Spratt said.
“I could see her early in the race a few times trying to get out of the saddle and you could see it was painful.
“She just gets in that zone where she just manages to forget about it and, just, yeah ... I‘m pretty speechless.
“It‘s absolutely amazing, she’s just a class act.
“We all knew if anyone could do it, it could be her, but we still didn‘t quite believe she could do it.”
Aussie M & M steals bronze in epic sprint finish
- Julian Linden
Australia’s Michael Matthews unleashed a devasating late sprint to claim the bronze medal behind Belgian wunderkid Remco Evenepoel in the men’s road race at the world cycling championships in Wollongong on Sunday.
The junior world champion in 2010 when the event was last held in Australia, Matthews timed his run to perfection to get his front wheel across the line just ahead of a star studded peloton including some of the biggest names in racing .
It was the third time Matthews has won a medal in the individual road race at the world championships after he got a silver in 2015 and a bronze in 2017.
The 31-year-old from Canberra also won a bronze in the team trial last week and had no idea he was on track for another medal after he lost track of how many riders had broken free from the peloton.
“We were actually talking in the peloton about whether there was anything left to race for then I saw the French team lining up so I jumped on the back of them and did my thing in the sprint,” he said.
“I didn‘t know exactly where I finished - I found out a couple of minutes later that I was actually third.
“I just knew we had a really good team performance today and I just wanted to finish it off for Australia on home soil, see where I ended up.
“This one‘s the best, definitely on home soil. It’s definitely the most special ... it feels like a win.”
Matthews finished two minutes 21 seconds behind Evenepoel, who silenced his critics with a stunning victory two years after he almost quit the sport after a horrific crash.
The 22-year-old turned the 267 km race for the world champion’s striped rainbow jersey into a one-man procession, crossing the line well clear of the chasing pack, led by runner-up, Frenchman Christophe Laporte.
Also a former junior world champion, Evenepoel collected his first senior title after he opened up a decisive lead 25km from the end on the penultimate climb at Mount Pleasant, then cruised to victory on his lonesome with the peloton caught napping and unable to catch him.
“I am super happy I had the legs today,” Evenepoel said. “The last climb was actually super hard, my legs felt like they were going to explode.
“I kept pushing because it is a world championship, you don’t want to lose any second, you just want to win the jersey if you are in position for it.”
Evenepoel reached the finish after more than six and a quarter hours after the race started in Helensburgh and went along the Illawarra coast before hitting the streets of Wollongong, sitting up the saddle with both arms raised in the air.
It was a triumphant return from two years ago when Evenepoel was seriously hurt after a fall in Italy, where he fractured his pelvis and a lung contusion, raising doubts about his future in the sport.
He returned to professional riding in 2021 and competed at last year’s world championships in Belgium where he was slammed for questioning the tactics of his team when they went all-in for Wout van Aert, who faded and missed out on a medal.
Evenepoel later claimed he could have won the race if the Belgian team had backed him instead, but his comments went down badly in the cycling-mad country.
He is now the undisputed top rider in the team, having also just won his first grand tour event at the Vuelta a Espana.
Van Aert finished fourth, just centimetres behind Matthews, while Jai Hindley, winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia, was the second best Australian, crossing the line 49th.
Cycling freak to race for gold with broken elbow
- Julian Linden
The most indestructible athlete competing in Australia this weekend won’t be found on a footy field.
Instead, she’ll be on a bicycle, pedalling her guts out at the UCI world championships in Wollongong.
Every elite cyclist is as tough as nails but none more so than Annemiek van Vleuten, the Dutch superstar who is the favourite to win Saturday’s 164 km road race.
Already a multi-world champion and Olympic gold medallist, van Vleuten is attempting to win another title this weekend while riding with a broken elbow.
That’s right – she fractured her funny bone – just days ago, when her front tyre exploded during the team trial in downtown Wollongong.
Wincing in pain, she was taken to hospital where x-rays confirmed the bust – then was back in the saddle the very next morning preparing to race this weekend.
And no-one was surprised.
“If it was anyone other than Annemiek van Vleuten with a broken elbow, they’re probably not going to race,” Australia’s Amanda Spratt said.
“I think she’s the toughest, most resilient – I don’t want to say crazy, but just yeah, I can 100% imagine her starting on Saturday.”
Van Vleuten’s toughness is legendary.
In 2016 at the Rio Olympics, she was involved in one of the most frightening crashes ever seen in elite cycling.
It was so horrific that viewers initially thought the pint-sized rider had been killed.
She was knocked out cold and suffered horrendous injuries including spinal fractures – but was back riding 10 days later.
âš ï¸ CRASH for @AvVleuten!! âš ï¸
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 21, 2022
Mechanical issue causes horrible crash for the Dutch superstar.
Really disappointing day for the Dutch. #Wollongong2022pic.twitter.com/rU5LYNnlcu
Turning 40 next month, she’s in the best form of her life but is planning to retire next year so wants to make the most of every opportunity left. Which is why the Aussies think she’ll be even harder to beat this weekend with a broken elbow.
“She will obviously be taking some painkillers and I’m sure she’ll be heavily strapped and doing what she can to push through but I think there’s certain races where you’re willing to take that sort of risk and push your body more and the world championships is sort of the biggest race we have,” Spratt said.
“The Olympics is the other one where you might just ride through that and just put up with the pain and whatever further damage you might do.
“I think that’s a risk it sounds like she’s willing to take and given it’s a one day race, it’s just one day where she has to put up with it.
“I’m sure everyone’s legs will be burning and maybe she just thinks her legs will be hurting more than her elbow at that point. So I think we are a bit of a crazy breed sometimes and we can push through sort of pain and put our bodies on that limit. And she’s probably one of the best athletes at that.
“Any cyclist will tell you the world championships is probably the biggest event that you could win and want to win. You get to wear the rainbow jersey for a whole year. So anyone would do anything to become world champion.”
Led by van Vleuten, the Dutch women are an irresistible force in the women’s race, having at least one medallist in each of the last years.
But the Australians have plenty of success, with Spratt winning the silver medal in 2018 and the bronze a year later.
Born in nearby Penrith, Spratt is again looming as one of Australia’s best contenders to win the coveted rainbow jersey but knows the woman she has to beat is still the injured Dutch star.
I think she’s going to come out and be crazy in the road race,” Spratt said.
“She’s going to be even more fired up to put in a great performance. She loves it. She knows how tough she is.”
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