Mathieu van der Poel has been involved in several spectator incidents in recent seasons, most recently in Loenhout, where a spectator unintentionally struck his handlebar.
Fan almost causes Van der Poel crash (Credit TNT Sports / Sporza)
This has led former professional cyclists Bert and Staf Scheirlinckx to discuss the consequences of these actions. They founded the Belgian Professional Cyclists association to deal with incidents, but say that meaningful consequences are rare. Bert told De Telegraaf, “We try to ensure that these kinds of incidents are followed up legally, but we cannot determine the severity of the punishment, and it is not always what we expect.”
He added that calls to ban people are more complex than they appear. “For people who care deeply about cycling, incidents like the one involving Van der Poel are emotionally charged. People immediately say: That person should never be allowed to attend a race again.
“But if you detach that emotion, you are basically dealing with someone spitting on another person or throwing beer at them. Under Belgian jurisdiction, that is not considered a serious offence, so someone gets away with a fine.”
“We do initiate a procedure, because this kind of behaviour is unacceptable in cycling. However, the penalties are often light and limited, because the incident is assessed by a judge, just as it would be in ‘normal’ society.”
He added that riders and teams are often reluctant to draw attention to such cases. “It is often very difficult, because the rider himself or the team is rarely in favour of giving the incident much publicity.”
The legal consequences change only if the outcome is more severe. At this year’s Paris–Roubaix, Van der Poel had a bottle thrown at his head.
Mathieu van der Poel hit by bottle at Paris-Roubaix (Credit TNT Sports)
“Yes, if Mathieu had crashed there and suffered a serious injury, then he and his team would have taken that person to court and held them responsible for their actions. In that case, the victim could bring the perpetrator before a judge with ‘attempted manslaughter’ as the charge.”
Although the individual involved was identified, the outcome remains unclear. “No, we don’t know what sentence was handed down. Then you once again run into the ‘law of privacy’, which means it is not made public,” Scheirlinckx said.
> Paris-Roubaix spectator who threw bottle at Mathieu van der Poel hands himself in to the police
“That is frustrating, yes. If the punishment were made public and turned out to be severe, then everyone would think twice before doing something unacceptable.”
Some organisers have begun taking additional preventive steps. Scheirlinckx pointed to Flanders Classics deploying extra stewards at hotspots such as the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont during the Tour of Flanders, though wider measures like cameras remain restricted by privacy legislation. “That does not change the fact that we will continue to fight for the riders,” he said.