However, BEAT Cycling performance director Thijs Zonneveld told the Herald that Maas denied spitting at Watts deliberately or knowingly and had been shocked by the punch and the media attention it attracted.
“Marijn denies to have spat at Mr Watts,” Zonneveld said. “He did not know him or had a problem with him in the race before the blow on his head.
“We looked at the footage of the race and couldn’t find anything that suggests otherwise. It would be very, very much out of character from him to do such a thing.”
Zonneveld also defended Maas’ character, describing him as a shy person who would be unlikely to deliberately instigate such an incident.
“He was completely surprised by Mr Watts’ blow on his head – you can see that as well in the way he reacted,” Zonneveld said.
“He has been shocked by what happened; we had several talks with him in the week afterwards because he was flabbergasted by what happened and the attention in the media the incident provoked.”
Watts told Newstalk ZB that Maas had taken issue with the way he was racing before allegedly turning around and spitting at him, with saliva going over his face and into his mouth.
“I just saw red and proceeded to sprint up next to him on the front of the peloton and what happened, happened,” Watts said.
“If I could go back and redo everything again, I definitely would have probably kept my composure, but that’s just how things played out. What I did was definitely the wrong thing to do, but what he did was also the wrong thing.”
Kiaan Watts during the 2026 Tour of Southland. Photo / Tour of Southland
The fallout for Watts has extended beyond his suspension and the online abuse, which he said led to him seeing a sports psychologist, and searching for a new team for next year.
Watts said he was disappointed with how contract negotiations unfolded, claiming promises were not kept and communication from management was lacking as he sought clarity over his future.
He said he had been left chasing an answer about whether he would be retained, with confirmation only arriving in mid-September.
NSN have re-signed fellow New Zealanders George Bennett, Corbin Strong and Dion Smith.
Watts said he now had one or two concrete offers on the table while awaiting responses from other teams.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.