The bottle in the face of Van der Poel is not the first incident in a large cycling race

Was it a stupid, impulsive act? A drunken campaign? Or, as the victim declared afterwards, a « attempted manslaughter »?

An incident during spring classic Paris-Roubaix, last Sunday, caused a lot of turmoil in the cycling world and beyond. On Kasseienlook Templeuve, 33 kilometers before the finish, leader Mathieu van der Poel was pelted with a bottle. On live images it was shown how a spectator with force a yellow one-and later it turned out: filled-drinking bus to his head. Van der Poel was struck full in the face, but could sit on his bike and won his third Paris-Roubaix in a row.

Afterwards, the winner was white hot about the incident: he spoke of « an attempted manslaughter » against which « legal action » should be taken. « It didn’t ruin my victory, but it is not normal. It was a full bottle, of half a kilo, and I went 50 kilometers per hour so it felt like I got a stone in my face. »

Flemish supporters of Pogacar

Van der Poel received support from all sides: fellow riders, team leaders and commentators immediately expressed their disapproval of the incident in unison. “It’s Degoutant To see how Marginal Fans Bidon (SIC) throw at a champion, « wrote former rider Sven Nys on X. The competing Dutch cycling team Visma wrote: » Throwing things at riders-stop it immediately!  »

The bidong heel, which was clearly recognizable on films from bystanders, has since indicated itself to the police in West Flanders, vEarly different Belgian media Monday afternoon. It is a man who had come to the course with a group of Flemish supporters of Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian competitor of Van der Poel who finished second in Roubaix. It is still unclear why he threw the bottle. According to the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad He would have already regretted his action.

Beer and piss

It is not the first time that Van der Poel has to do with physical aggression along the course. Both during competitions on the road and in cyclo -cross races, he has been spit by bystanders in recent years or topped with beer and urine. In the edition of Paris-Roubaix from 2024whom he also won, a female spectator threw a cap in the direction of his spokes, trying to overthrow him – although she denied this afterwards. The woman managed to escape judicial steps with a settlement.

Why Van der Poel is the target of these types of attacks, remains unclear. He is considered a widely beloved rider with few enemies. In cyclocross, his unprecedented dominance in the past seasons caused frustration with Flemish fans, who regard the cyclocross as the domain of Belgian drivers.

In the road cycling, especially with spring classics such as Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, Van der Poel has also been unbeatable in recent years. Yet that can also be said of his rival Pogacar – and it was left alone last Sunday along the cobblestone strips.

If you look back a little further, you will see that Van der Poel is not the only driver who has to do with physical aggression: cycling has a modest but regrettable history of supporters crimes. During last year’s Tour de France, Glaithrager Pogacar and his pursuer Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark) were pelted with chips on the PyreneneCol Pla d’Adet. The perpetrator, a Frenchman, was arrested by the police but turned out to be driven to be heard that same day.

Battle in rib cage

In addition to spit and food, urine is a recurring element in supporters aggression in cycling. Both Top Sprinter Mark Cavendish (in 2013) and multiple winner Chris Froome (in 2015) were taught over him during stages from the Tour de France Bekers Pis.

Even more serious are the cases in which ‘supporters’ let their fists speak. Froomes Australian teammate Richie Porte received a fist in his rib cage in the same Tour of 2015. Both incidents did not have consequences for the final classification: Froome won the Tour for the second time that year.

In influence on the final result of the Tour de France – and even on the course of a whole career – was a dramatic incident on the flanks de Puy de Dome in 1975. In those years, the Belgian Eddy Merckx was sole ruler in the peloton and on the way to his sixth Tour victory – something that no rider had ever prestigated for him. Until a local cycling fan from Clermont-Ferrand, under the influence of wine and the then-commonly upgraded upsent in France on Merckx ‘dominance, planted his right fist in the liver of the cannibal.

Merckx drove the stage but was so excited that he lost his yellow jersey the two days later. He would never win the Tour de France again. In fact, he would almost win no more after that afternoon on the Puy de Dome. Three years later he ended his cycling career.

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