Mathieu van der Poel has spoken for the first time about the noise-related dispute in a Sydney hotel last week that saw him convicted of assault, saying he was wrong and regretted it. However, he said some of the reports circulating about what happened were not accurate.
The Dutch rider remonstrated with two young girls who he chased from his hotel room door after they repeatedly knocked on it and ran away, disturbing his sleep just hours before the elite men's road race at the Worlds in Wollongong. "Of course I'm sorry, I'm wrong too," it he said on arrival back in Europe.
“I admit that honestly. I shouldn't have done that, I should have done it differently. Unfortunately it did happen and I'm trying to put it behind me, and look further to what's to come," he told Het Nieuwsblad.
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Van der Poel was convicted in a Sydney court on Monday of assaulting the two girls and was fined $1,500 while also being banned from Australia for three years, which comes with any conviction. However, he said his team and lawyers would now follow up on the case - with his lawyer already saying they would appeal the sentence.
"It has been a few stressful days," Van der Poel added, saying while he held one of the girls by the arm he never intended to hurt anyone.
"Anyone who knows me knows that I have never hurt anyone. There's a lot of stories going around about pushing and stuff, that's absolutely not true and that's not what happened. There are two versions of the story and when you are there in Australia it is very difficult to deal with.”
He added he was looking forward to getting home and getting some peace but he accepts he should have contacted the hotel's front desk and ask them to handle the girls rather than responding himself. Looking ahead, he said he hoped to race again this season but he would to assess his recovery in coming days.
