Elite Dutch cyclist accused of assaulting two teenage girls in hotel breaks his silence

The Dutch cyclist who sensationally withdrew from a world championship road race has broken his silence for the first time since he was accused of assaulting two teenage girls.

Mathieu van der Poel, 27, who won a stage in the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, is “stunned” over the alleged incident involving the girls aged 13 and 14, according to his Team Alpecin-Deceuninck boss, Christoph Roodhooft.

“He didn’t sleep all night and was also a bit broken mentally,” Roodhooft told reporters.

He expected a lot from this day (race) and did everything he could in the last two months after his bad Tour de France.

‘He had found joy and happiness in cycling again and was hoping for a great race today.’

He will appear in court after being arrested and charged just hours before the race, where he was one of the title favorites for the 2022 UCI Road World Championships – a 266.9km race to be held in Wollongong, south of Sydney. .

Police allege the athlete physically confronted the 13- and 14-year-old girls at Brighton’s Novotel Le Sands on Saturday night because they played a prank on his door while he was trying to sleep before the race.

Police will allege that the two young teenage girls were playing ‘knock and run’ at the Brighton Le Sands Novotel (above) when the cyclist pushed the two girls, causing one to fall

Officers from Sydney’s St George Command confiscated Van der Poel’s passport for his performance at Sutherland Court on September 27 after they charged him twice with assaulting a child.

The rider who did not leave the police until 4 a.m. withdrew an hour from the race from exhaustion.

“I went to bed early and many children in the hallway of my room found it necessary to knock on the door continuously,” he told Belgium’s Sporza website before the start of the race.

‘After a few times I was done with it. I didn’t kindly ask to stop. Then the police were called and I was taken away.

‘I wasn’t back in my room until four o’clock. That is certainly not ideal. It’s a disaster, but I can’t change anything anymore.’

NSW police allege that Van der Poel pushed the two girls, causing one to fall over and the other to crash into a wall with a minor abrasion to her elbow.

“The hotel management was informed of the incident, who then called the police,” a NSW police spokesperson said in a statement.

“Officers from the St. George Police Command were on hand and arrested a 27-year-old man shortly afterwards.”

Van der Poel is ‘mentally broken’ after being charged with assaulting two young teenage girls and then forced to withdraw from the race after his arrest due to exhaustion

Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands drives over the Sea Cliff Bridge during the elite men’s road race at the World Road Cycling Championships in Wollongong, Australia, Sunday, September 25, 2022

Mathieu van der Poel (in the photo with his girlfriend Roxanne Bertels) is accused of assaulting two children

Van der Poel was taken to the Kogarah police station where he remained until 4 a.m., after which the race started at 10.15 a.m.

Despite only sleeping for a few hours, Van der Poel stared at the race but stopped at about 11am.

He was released on bail and is due to appear in the local Sutherland court before magistrate Hugh Donnelly.

The four-time cyclocross world champion and 2013 junior road race world champion was one of the favorites to win the rainbow jersey.