A Dutch cycling champion who pleaded guilty to assaulting two teenagers at a Sydney hotel has had his convictions quashed on appeal.
Tour de France stage winner Mathieu van der Poel was arrested in September, hours before he was due to compete in the men's UCI World Championship Road Race in Wollongong.
He was accused of assaulting two girls who he claimed repeatedly knocked on the door of his room at the Novotel in Brighton Le Sands.
Facts tendered to the court detailed how the 27-year-old confronted the girls, grabbing one on the arm and pushing the other, before police were called to investigate the incident.
The following morning, Van der Poel lined up and started the 270-kilometre race with about two hours of sleep but withdrew in the early stages.
Van der Poel pleaded guilty to assault in Sutherland Local Court two days later and was convicted of two counts of common assault and fined $1,500.
During an appeal hearing in Sydney Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday, the cycling star had the convictions overturned.
'Great outcome'
The cyclist, who is currently in Belgium, was excused from appearing and was represented in court by his lawyer, Michael Bowe.
"It was a great outcome, really good," Mr Bowe said.
"You can't get a better outcome, so I'm really happy."
Mr Bowe said van der Poel should never have been convicted initially.
"No-one wants to carry a conviction forward for the rest of your life when you're of very good character," he said.
"In my view, the convictions shouldn't have been made, which was supported by the District Court."
Lost opportunities
Mr Bowe said the impact of the incident on his client's life and career had been punishment enough.
"I ran the argument on the basis of the loss to Mathieu — he had one opportunity in his life to win the world championships and he'd lost that opportunity," he said.
"He'd trained for that opportunity, he'd let his country down, he'd let his team down … and he'd shown genuine contrition after the event.
"There were substantial losses [to him].
"He'll look back in 20 years' time and just wish he never did what he did."
In lieu of the convictions Van der Poel was sentenced to a 12-month conditional release order (CRO).
He is not to commit any offence while subject to the order and must appear before the court if called upon at any time during the year.
During his career, van der Poel has had stage wins in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, has won four Cyclo-cross World Championships, two European championships and represented the Netherlands in the Tokyo Olympics.
