{"id":207434,"date":"2025-10-17T21:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/207434\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T21:58:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:58:08","slug":"were-shocked-by-the-personal-attacks-dutch-federation-condemns-online-abuse-after-world-championship-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/207434\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re shocked by the personal attacks\u201d \u2013 Dutch federation condemns online abuse after World Championship chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knwu.nl\/nieuws\/verklaring-knwu-over-online-benadering-van-renners-en-rensters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">In its official statement<\/a>, dated 17 October 2025, the KNWU said it had taken note of the social media reactions surrounding the elite women\u2019s race, acknowledging that \u201csport is emotional and evokes emotion\u201d. However, the federation said it was \u201cshocked\u201d by the way certain Dutch riders were personally targeted in the days after the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is, in our view, completely unacceptable that athletes who compete with full commitment and pride are confronted with denigrating, insulting or intimidating messages,\u201d said KNWU managing director Maurice Leeser. \u201cThis can never be the purpose of a tournament or event within our cycling community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The federation went on to stress that it stands \u201cunconditionally\u201d behind its riders and \u201ccondemns this behaviour in the strongest possible terms\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>While the Gravel World Championships showcased the strength and depth of Dutch cycling \u2014 particularly in the women\u2019s field \u2014 it also reignited debate around team dynamics and sporting ethics after <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclinguptodate.com\/yara-kastelijn\" title=\"Yara Kastelijn\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yara Kastelijn<\/a>\u2019s move effectively cost compatriot <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclinguptodate.com\/shirin-van-anrooij\" title=\"Shirin van Anrooij\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shirin van Anrooij<\/a> a likely world title. The resulting online storm saw several riders, including eventual world champion <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclinguptodate.com\/lorena-wiebes\" title=\"Lorena Wiebes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lorena Wiebes<\/a>, subjected to abuse and harassment on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Seeking to draw a line under the escalating hostility, the KNWU urged fans to play their part in maintaining respect within the sport\u2019s community. \u201cInsulting or belittling riders via social media is in no way acceptable,\u201d Leeser continued. \u201cThe KNWU calls on everyone not to ignore unwanted behaviour online. Such incidents can be reported to the KNWU\u2019s Safe Cycling hotline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The federation concluded its message by reaffirming its support for all Dutch riders who \u201ccompete with passion and pride\u201d and by calling for a renewed sense of respect and decency both on and off the bike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In its official statement, dated 17 October 2025, the KNWU said it had taken note of the social&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-207434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}