The man who threw a water bottle at Mathieu van der Poel while he was on his way to victory at Paris-Roubaix last weekend has apologised.
In an letter sent to Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, the unidentified man said that he had been "ashamed for days", and that he had apologised to Van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck too. The man had previously handed himself in to police.
"I am so happy that he crossed the finish line first on Sunday - despite my stupid action," the assailant said. "But at the same time I realize that I have to apologise to every rider or cycling fan."
The incident happened while Van der Poel was on his own, soloing to victory, after Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) had crashed out of contention on Sunday. On sector eight, Templeuve-Moulin-de-Vertain, a man threw a full bottle, which hit the Dutchman in the face.
In his post-race press conference, the 30-year-old described it as like a "stone hitting my face".
"I saw that yellow water bottle lying in the grass field between the tent and that cobblestone strip," the man who threw the bottle said of the incident. "Perhaps one of the juniors had thrown it away that morning. Without thinking much about it, I picked it up. It wasn't completely full, but there was still some in it. Mathieu van der Poel was approaching and when he passed, I made that stupid decision and threw that water bottle.
"Why did I do that? I’ve been asking myself that question ever since, but I don’t have an explanation for it myself. An extremely foolish impulse, I can’t explain it any other way. Am I a fan of Wout van Aert and wanted to block his opponent? Absolutely not, I don’t have a favourite rider at all actually."
"I felt so bad when I hit him," the Belgian man continued. "Within half a second I already regretted throwing. On the one hand I was very happy that he didn't fall. But why did I do that? How could I be so stupid? What would happen to me now?"
"That one stupid second has caused me to end up in an incredible media storm. It seems like everyone is talking about me now. I know I was wrong and I will take responsibility, but I hope the dust can settle soon."
Cycling's governing body, the UCI, and Alpecin-Deceuninck, have both called for legal action.
A UCI spokesperson said on Monday: "Such behaviour cannot be tolerated in the context of a cycling event" and said they "will explore, in conjunction with the competent authorities, all the legal channels at their disposal so that such behaviour is duly and severely punished, as has already been the case in the past."
"We will be filing an official complaint against the perpetrator to formally denounce this behaviour," an Alpecin spokesperson said.
"My client will take legal responsibility,” his lawyer, Peter Desmet, said. “Of course we would prefer to settle this among ourselves, but he also understands that it is a matter of principle."
