The person who spat at Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel during the E3 Saxo Classic last month has been identified and is to face a fine, local police in Ronse, where the incident occurred, announced on Tuesday.
Alone in the lead with about 30km to go, Van der Poel was spat on by a spectator, beer in hand, in the Karnemelkbeekstraat in Ronse. The incident was captured on television, which enabled the police to identify the spitter who has “admitted the facts.”
The person will have to pay a fine of up to 350 euros (US$398.29), a police officer said, adding that the case would not be taken any further.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Van der Poel went on to win the race, but has faced similar incidents.
“The people who do this would do better not to attend the races,” he said at the time. “Unfortunately, I can’t change things, but it’s a shame it should happen again because it’s already happened to me.”
During the Paris-Roubaix on Sunday last week, the leader of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team was hit in the face by a water bottle in the cobbled section of Templeuve, again when he was leading the race.
The perpetrator handed himself into the police and in a letter published yesterday in the Belgian daily Het Laatse Nieuws, he apologized to Van der Poel and racing fans, adding that he was “embarrassed for days” after the incident.
Van der Poel called the incident “unacceptable,” adding that being hit by the half-full bottle while riding at 40kph was like being hit in the face with a rock.
Additional reporting by AFP
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