Mathieu van der Poel has recognised that he made a mistake in trying personally to resolve an incident in his team hotel at the recent World Championships, which culminated in him being fined for common assault.
Van der Poel spoke publicly about the incident for the first time on Tuesday, as he landed in Belgium after flying home from Australia.
“I should have done things differently,” Van der Poel said, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
The Dutchman confirmed that he did hold one of the teenage girls – who were reportedly playing a game of ‘knock-and-run’ on his hotel room door the night before Sunday’s road race – by the arm.
However he also insisted that he never intended to harm the girls, and denied recent reports of him pushing them.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I have never hurt anyone,” he said.
“There’s a lot of stories going around about pushing and stuff, that’s absolutely not true and that’s not what happened.”
More to follow
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