NOS Wielrennen•woensdag, 09:37
The woman who threw a hat in the direction of world champion Mathieu van der Poel during the cycling classic Paris-Roubaix last Sunday said she had no malicious intentions, she told the Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg.
The Flemish woman has made herself known to the French riders’ association UNCP through her lawyer. Through her counselor she says she wants to start the conversation.
“She would like to explain everything. We are now waiting for a response. It was clearly never my client’s intention to harm the rider in question. Let alone that she wanted to bring him down. No right-thinking person would do something like that. do?”, said her lawyer.
Outrage
Last Sunday during Paris-Roubaix, Van der Poel was alone in the lead when, 42 kilometers from the finish, a cap was thrown in his direction on one of the cobblestone sections. He was not bothered by this and soloed to victory.
Does this supporter deliberately throw his cycling cap at derailleur Van der Poel?
The incident with the cap led to much outrage. The UNCP filed a report, a decision that was supported by the international cyclists’ union CPA.
It was suspected that the woman deliberately tried to throw the cap between Van der Poel’s spokes in order to overthrow him.
Nonsense, the woman in question now says. However, she will keep her side of the story for a while, her lawyer said. “My client likes to keep the explanation for the conversation with the riders’ association. She can explain it to them in terms and colors. But she does not want to have that conversation in the media.”
