Mathieu van der Poel pleads guilty to assault of girls night before world championships

Mathieu van der Poel’s lawyer says he will try and overturn a conviction for assaulting two teenage girls at a Sydney hotel on the eve of the men’s world championship road race. The night before the big race became a disaster for the pre-race favourite, when he was arrested in the middle of the night for assaulting two girls.

According to various reports, van der Poel had problems with kids knocking on the door where he was staying. Apparently, the young girls decided to play “Nicky nicky nine doors” on the Tour de France stage winner, and it didn’t exactly go over well with him.

After a confrontation with the kids, the police showed up and arrested the Dutch star, who didn’t return to his room until 4:00 am.

BREAKING: ?? Mathieu Van der Poel was arrested in his hotel the night before the start of the road race.

There was an "incident" between Van der Poel and some children who were knocking on his door during the evening/night. He will start the race.

Source: Sporza.

— Domestique (@Domestique___) September 25, 2022

Apparently when MvdP confronted two girls he grabbed one by the arm and pushed the other. When he pushed the second girl, it resulted in a small graze on her arm. Van der Poel said he was frustrated with them as they repeatedly knocked on his door on Saturday night and would then run away.

“It’s true, yes. There was a small dispute. It was about noisy neighbors and they are quite strict here,” Van der Poel said to Sporza. “I went to bed early and many children in the hallway of my room found it necessary to knock on the door continuously.

Van der Poel pleaded guilty on Monday in court. The Sutherland local court magistrate Hugh Donnelly convicted him and ordered him to pay fines of $1,000 and $500 AUD for the two common assaults.

“He admits he dealt with it inappropriately but still there’s an explanation,” criminal lawyer Michael Bowe said after the conviction. “The damage he suffered was enormous. He feels like he’s let his whole country down and his whole team.”

His lawyer added that they will lodge a sentence appeal on Tuesday morning in the district court, which seeks to set aside the convictions.

Van der Poel had a terrible race following the disruptive evening, abandoning after only 34 km.