The Dutch elite cyclist is withdrawing from the World Championships event in Australia after allegedly attacking two teenage girls playing ‘knock-and-run’ at his hotel door the night before the race
- The Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel withdraws from the World Championship race
- He was accused of assaulting two teenage girls in Wollongong, NSW
- The 27-year-old is in Australia for the UCI Road World Championships
A Dutch cycling star sensationally pulled out of a World Championship road race on Sunday after being accused of assaulting two teenage girls.
Mathieu van der Poel, 27, is on trial after being arrested and charged just hours before the race where he was one of the title favorites for the 2022 UCI Road World Championships – a 266.9km race to be held in Wollongong being held south of Sydney .
Police allege the athlete physically confronted the 13 and 14-year-old girls at the Novotel in Brighton Le Sands on Saturday night because they played a knock-and-run prank on his door while he was trying to get some sleep before the race to get .
Officers at St George Command in Sydney seized Van der Poel’s passport before his appearance at Sutherland Court on September 27 after charging him with two counts of assaulting a child.
The driver, who only left police custody at 4am, withdrew from exhaustion an hour into the race.
Mathieu van der Poel (pictured right with his girlfriend Roxanne Bertels) will appear in court in Sydney on Tuesday
“I went to bed early and many children in the hallway of my room found it necessary to keep knocking on the door,” he told Belgian website Sporza before the start of the race.
“After a few times I was done with it. I didn’t ask nicely to stop. Then the police were called and I was taken away.
“I wasn’t back in my room until 4 a.m. That’s definitely not ideal. It’s a catastrophe, but I can’t change anything anymore.’
NSW Police allege Van der Poel pushed the two girls causing one to fall and the other to fall against a wall and sustain a small abrasion on the elbow.
“Hotel management was informed of the incident who then called the police,” a NSW Police spokesman said in a statement.
“Officers from the St. George Police Command attended and arrested a 27-year-old man shortly thereafter.”
Mathieu van der Poel from the Netherlands drives on Sunday 25
Mathieu van der Poel (pictured with his girlfriend Roxanne Bertels) is accused of assaulting two children
Van der Poel was taken to Kogarah Police Station where he remained until 4am with the race starting at 10.15am.
Although Van der Poel only slept for a couple of hours, he was staring at the race but retired around 11am.
He was released on bail and will appear in court in Sutherland on Tuesday.
The 2013 four-time world cyclo-cross champion and junior world road race champion was one of the favorites for the rainbow jersey.