Incident in hotel Van der Poel: teammates only informed just before the start

Mathieu van der Poel gave up after 30 kilometers at the World Cup in Wollongong. A disaster night threw a spanner in the works for the Dutch leader, but apparently he only informed his teammates a few minutes before the start. ‘Bizarre’, says Bauke Mollema after the road race.

Van der Poel was at an Australian police station until 4 am, after the security services were called from the hotel. The Dutchman would have clashed with two teenage girls, who were constantly banging on his door. He is due to appear in court on Tuesday.

‘I was in it early’, Van der Poel told his story in front of Sporza’s microphones. “But every time I was disturbed in my sleep.” The Dutchman stated that a lot of noise was made in the corridor of his hotel. The cause was children playing who, according to him, also repeatedly knocked on the door of his hotel room. “When that continued, I did not kindly tell them to stop,” said Van der Poel. ‘Then I was taken to the police station. Apparently they are very strict here.’

Girls pushed?

An understatement. A few hours after the start of the World Cup, the New South Wales Police came out with a press release, recorded by VeloNews. ‘A verbal incident is said to have taken place in The Grand Parade Hotel around 10:40 pm between a man and two teenage girls aged 13 and 14. The man is said to have pushed both teens, after which one of them fell to the ground and one hit the wall, resulting in a small scratch on her elbow. The hotel management was informed, after which the police came and the man was arrested.’

Passport revoked (until the end of October?)

After a long night, Van der Poel was only allowed to return to his hotel room around 4 am. “The man has been charged in both cases and is expected to appear in court on Tuesday,” the press release said. The Dutchman’s passport was immediately revoked. According to Australian media, Van der Poel would only get that back at the end of October, a standard procedure in the country.

Dutch federation makes a bad turn

The whole case does raise questions about the role of the Dutch cycling federation. He had done his homework late, so that Van der Poel and the rest of the selection had ended up in this particular hotel – in a corridor with other guests. A hotel in Syndey, please note, at a good distance from the World Cup course in Wollongong. Van der Poel now hopes to leave the country as soon as possible.

Teammates knew nothing

“I still don’t know exactly what happened,” Mollema told the NOS. ‘Mathieu said it just before the start, in the camper. Quite a bizarre story of course, but I don’t know exactly what happened or how it went on. It’s a shame, because we had the plan to definitely participate in the medals with him. After such a night, that is of course no longer possible. I didn’t hear anything at all, I slept well. When you hear a story like this, you think: they are kidding. But it soon became apparent that it was serious. That is of course a pity for him.’

Mollema also stated that he slept on another floor. “I only know my own room, we were scattered,” said the Trek-Segafrado rider. Dylan van Baarle confirmed that Van der Poel had been elsewhere in the hotel. ‘He slept with his girlfriend on another floor. I slept wonderfully,” said the number 2 of last year.

‘the situation’

‘It was very bizarre,’ said Pascal Eenkhoorn. ‘We have a very nice group here and we laugh a lot together. He told us that five minutes before the start and I thought: he is just making fun of us. I don’t know for sure either, but I hope it goes well. We were on another floor and didn’t know anything about it, not even at breakfast. Of course it’s just a shitty situation, hopefully it will end in a fizzle.’

Apparently Van der Poel also struggled with a cold. “Mathieu was supposed to be in Jan Maas’s room, but because of that he was now on a different floor,” said national coach Koos Moerenhout. ‘Perhaps it’s not convenient that he was on a different floor. It will now also go loose, but that way you can reason everything. If that’s the fault, I think we’ll be fine. I can’t say much more about it than is actually known. It’s a whole situation that sucks to him. Mathieu brought it up when the damage was already done. If we had known that, we would have arranged something. He sent me a message when it had already happened, then you’re in a situation you don’t want to be in. He travels to the other side of the world, but you don’t make this up. Why were the riders informed so late? That’s a choice. You can dispute that and you will now.’

Duration ticket

Painful extra fact: the Dutchman had flown to Australia via First Class – a more expensive scale than Business Class. Nobody wanted to give an exact price for this, but it can be assumed that it cost at least 20,000 euros. A hefty price tag for a disappointing Mixed Relay, thirty kilometers during the road trip and a night with the police.