Mathieu van der Poel has broken his silence after being arrested on September 24 for assaulting two minors. The cyclist, who was resting in his hotel room, he was molested by two girls aged 13 and 14 who knocked on his door. Van der Poel, after this, ran after them and violently pushed one of them causing scratches on the elbow. After these incidents, the Dutchman spent the night at the police station and he was forced to abandon the World Cycling Championship.
This September 27, upon Van der Poel’s arrival in his native country, the cyclist gave a statement giving his version of the events to clarify what happened that night in Wollongong. “Of course I regret what happened. I should have solved it in another way”, commented the cyclist who excused himself from said actions saying that he did it because “it was late and i wanted to sleep”. Van der Poel was sentenced to pay the girls 672 euros to one of the minors and 336 euros to the other.
Even with all this, Van der Poel wanted to clarify that the story that was told was not entirely true in terms of the cyclist’s reaction. “There are rumors that I pushed the girls, but that didn’t happen. I grabbed a girl by her arm, but not with the intention of hurting her”, assured the Dutchman who added to the media that “those who know me know that I have never hurt anyone”.
Now, Van der Poel’s intention is to rest and forget this mishap. “Unfortunately I can’t go back. I am happy to be back home. I want to leave this behind as soon as possible”, declared the cyclist on his return to Belgium. A great relief for the Dutch since initially it was proposed that he would have to be held in Australia for a period of between 4 and 6 weeks. Something that the judge dismissed. Finally things have not gone all wrong for Van der Poel who only has in mind “to seek tranquility while being at home”.