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Mathieu van der Poel on the way to victory

Photo: Alex Broadway / Getty Images

Mathieu van der Poel won the spring classic Paris-Roubaix in an outstanding manner on Sunday. He broke away from his pursuers early on and drove towards victory on the cobblestones. The Dutch cycling star was very lucky that he didn't fall: 42.2 kilometers from the finish, a spectator threw a cap towards van der Poel and narrowly missed him.

"Such a crash could have ended his season - these people don't understand that," said former cyclist and current TV expert Adam Blythe on Eurosport. Adam Hansen, the chairman of the CPA drivers' association, announced at X that action would be taken against the spectator. 

»I saw something thrown at me, but I didn't know what it was. "Obviously not everyone likes it when I'm in the lead - but I don't care," van der Poel told the Dutch TV station "NOS" after the race. »They're just frustrated people, I think. I don’t want to think about it too much or pay attention to it.”

Also in focus on the Tour of Flanders

It is not the first incident of this kind for the driver from the Alpecin-Deceuninck team. Van der Poel was apparently sprayed with beer by fans during the Tour of Flanders last week. The Dutchman also won this race. Recently, many of the best racing drivers in the world fell and sometimes sustained serious injuries, which is why the excitement surrounding the hat toss in the direction of van der Poel is even greater.

Van der Poel remained calm both times, unlike in December 2023. At that time, the 29-year-old was leading a cross-country World Cup in Hulst, Netherlands. Belgian fans apparently repeatedly insulted him during the race - and van der Poel lost his temper. Shortly before the finish, he spat in the direction of the fans. »I'm done with these boos. It started during the warm-up," he said during the winner's interview, according to Eurosport. Such behavior has no place in sport. Van der Poel continues: »I'm fed up with it. Nobody should be booed. After a while it was enough, even for me.”

Uproar at the 2022 World Cup

Van der Poel had already caused a stir before. Van der Poel was the big favorite at the 2022 World Road Championships in Australia. The night before the race, two children knocked on his hotel room door several times late at night and then ran away.

Van der Poel lost his nerve, grabbed the children in the hotel hallway, roughly grabbed them and pushed them against the wall - and had to go to the police station. He wasn't back in the room until four in the morning, and then he had no chance of running. A year later he became world champion.

kjo