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It happened on Sunday afternoon on cobblestone section number ten, 42 kilometers from the finish. A Flemish woman threw a cap at the back wheel of winner-in-the-making Mathieu van der Poel. If the cap had been twisted in his chain or between the spokes, his race could be over.
READ ALSO. Great outrage over woman who threw a hat at Mathieu van der Poel during Paris-Roubaix: “Hopefully that coward will be identified”
The newspapaer tried to contact the woman on Monday, but she decided to remain anonymous. She was present in a VIP tent near the course where various companies invited customers and guests. “We have been organizing that day for 16 years,” says Olivier Orlans of Eventor. “When we saw the images, we did not think the woman was part of our party. She wasn’t wearing a lanyard to get in and out of our tent. But we did investigate and asked all our customers if they knew the lady in question.”
One company informed Eventor that the lady was at the event on their invitation. “Those people told us that the woman would turn herself in (at the organization or at the police, ed.).” She is said to be a fan of Mathieu van der Poel, which would indicate that she did not deliberately aim the hat at his bicycle. “If it was deliberate, then as an organization we obviously find that scandalous,” says Orlans. “But everyone has the benefit of the doubt. It is now up to the woman in question to tell her story.”
READ ALSO. Police have already identified one person who threw beer at Mathieu van der Poel: “He can expect an invitation”
The French professional cyclists’ union (UNCP) is not waiting for the report and will file a report, supported by the international colleagues of the CPA trade union. “We will certainly track down that person,” chairman Adam Hansen said in an interview. “But we are dependent on national federations for a judicial investigation because we are located in Switzerland. The two associations ensured that a woman was prosecuted in 2021 for causing a crash in the tour by raising a cardboard sign with the inscription ‘Allez Omi – Opi’ in the air. The same woman was made suspicious on social media because she looked like the hat-thrower. But the 2021 lady was a Frenchwoman from Brest, while the Newspaper was able to find out that it was a Flemish woman last Sunday.
Beer throwers
On Sunday, in addition to a cap, Van der Poel was also given beer again, just like a week earlier during his solo in the Tour of Flanders. The incident with the cap seems to have a positive effect on the search for the beer throwers at the Kwaremont. “This is precisely why new tips are coming in,” says Joost Duhamel of the Flemish Ardennes police zone. “People who think that things cannot continue like this. Rightly so. First throw a beer, now a hat. Where is it going to end? We need to set limits on that behavior. If you can’t just go out and support, then stay home.”
“Following last week’s beer throwers at the Oude Kwaremont, one person is already clearly in the picture. He has not yet been interrogated, but he can expect an invitation. Although there are also two camps regarding investigations. People who think we are right to track down those beer throwers, and others who openly wonder if we have nothing better to do. But Sunday’s incident during Paris-Roubaix clearly shows that we must take action. That behavior must stop before it goes from bad to worse.”
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– 2024-04-09 11:34:36
