An elite Dutch cyclist laid in wait for two teen girls before chasing them into their hotel room and launching a terrifying assault over a game of knock and run.
New, disturbing details of the attack inside the Novotel Brighton Resort, south of Sydney, have been revealed through court documents obtained by NCA NewsWire.
Mathieu van der Poel on Monday pleaded guilty in Sutherland Local Court to assaulting the two girls, aged just 13 and 14.
The 27-year-old, who earns $3 million a year, had attempted to get an early night on Saturday ahead of the 267km world championship race in Wollongong, which he was a favourite to win.
According to a police fact sheet tendered to the court, the girls were staying in a room almost directly opposite van der Poel’s and were playing “knock and run” in the hotel hallway.
The girls knocked on the cyclist’s door, room 930, multiple times at 10.40pm and ran back into their room, which “frustrated” van der Poel as he had the race the following morning.
“He waited for the victims to knock on his door and chased them into their hotel room, following close behind them,” court documents state.
Van der Poel chased the girls, causing one of them to run into a corner and crouch down while covering her face.
The cyclist ran up to her and grabbed her by both arms, squeezing them and pushing her against a wall while yelling at her, causing her to suffer a minor carpet burn graze to her right elbow and redness to her left forearm.
van der Poel noticed the second girl trying to leave the room and pushed her against a wall using both hands.
“The girl fell to the ground and the accused left the room and went to his hotel room,” court documents said.
Police were called to the hotel where the 27-year-old made admissions to following the girls into their hotel room and yelling at them.
He was arrested and taken to Kogarah Police Station where he was formally charged.
van der Poel told police he was “quite frustrated” the girls continued to make noise and knock on the door despite his girlfriend asking them to stop.
The cyclist said he was frustrated by the situation but admitted his actions were wrong at the time.
The Dutch star returned to his hotel room at 4am on Sunday, and was a favourite to win the 267km race on Sunday when it kicked off at 10.15am.
However, he pulled out of the race about 11am due to fatigue, shocking competitors and fans.
NSW Police took his passport and issued him a notice to face Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday, but sensationally pleaded guilty on Monday before Magistrate Hugh Donnelly.
He was convicted and was ordered to pay $1500 in fines. Van der Poel cannot enter Australia for three years due to his conviction.
Ahead of the race on Sunday, van der Poel told Belgian website Sporza he “didn’t ask nicely” for the girls to stop knocking on his door.
“I wasn’t back in my room until 4 o’clock. That’s certainly not ideal. It’s a disaster, but I can’t change anything anymore,” he said.
Team Alpecin-Deceuninck boss Christoph Roodhooft told reporters van der Poel was mentally shattered following the ordeal.
“He didn’t sleep all night and was mentally a bit broken as well,” Roodhooft told reporters.
“He was expecting a lot of this day (race) and did all he could in the last two months after his bad Tour de France.
“He had found joy and happiness again in cycling and was hoping to have a nice race today.”
Following the incident, devoted fans of the Dutch star have left scathing reviews of the four-star Sydney hotel on Google.
Hundreds of reviews from Dutch fans have been submitted, disparaging the way the hotel handled the incident.
“Children knocking on doors all night, management responded only after I took action on those spoiled brats. Whole year of preparation down the drain. Thanks Novotel,” one fan wrote.
Another said: “Dramatic hotel with no proper manners whatsoever. One star is still too much.”
“Manager needs to be sacked, very poor decision and problem solving skills,” another said.
