Mathieu van der Poel has faced it again. And again. First, it was a water bottle thrown at him, then smoke from a vape was blown in his face, and now, another close call. But this time, it happened at the X2O Trofee Loenhout-Azencross in Belgium on Monday, and the spectator didn’t get off lightly.

Van der Poel was on the first of eight laps, leading a small group, when a spectator’s arm reached over the blue circuit fencing and made contact with his handlebars. This sudden interference made him wobble on the slippery course. For a moment, it looked like he might crash, but the Dutch World Champion managed to stay upright and keep his position.

“I was very lucky, because I was just able to stay upright,” van der Poel said afterward. “I haven’t watched the footage yet, but I didn’t feel it was malicious. When people are cheering, they sometimes forget there are riders coming. This can happen.” Whether the contact was intentional or not remains unclear.

But the world champion had also been dealing with a gear issue at the start, so the incident added to an already tricky opening phase. Despite all this, he went on to claim his sixth cyclo-cross victory of the season, sealing a dominant win in Belgium.

Intentional or not though, this time, race organizers didn’t take the incident lightly. After reviewing the television footage back-to-back, officials identified the spectator, who was questioned by police shortly after. Both Golazo, the organizer, and the UCI filed official complaints.

The spectator, however, insisted it wasn’t deliberate. “I really have nothing against Mathieu van der Poel. I feel so guilty; it wasn’t my intention at all,” he told Sporza. “I love cyclo-cross very much, so this is the last thing I wanted to happen. I would like to apologize to Mathieu once again.”

Later, Christophe Impens, an organizer at Golazo, confirmed no charges would be filed against the spectator.

Even with the chaos around him, van der Poel handled the situation like a champion. He remained composed, finished strong, and added another win to his season tally. But for van der Poel, this was yet another moment of unwanted déjà vu.

Mathieu van der Poel’s dangerous fan “encounters”

On 22nd December at the X2O Trofee Hofstade, Mathieu van der Poel was pushing hard toward the finish when a fan leaned over the barriers and blew vape smoke straight into his face. He quickly turned his head to avoid it, his racing glasses shielding his eyes, and carried on without losing focus. Even with the distraction, he rode on to win comfortably. But this kind of thing isn’t new for van der Poel.

At the 2024 Paris-Roubaix, a spectator actually threw a full water bottle at him. “We can’t let this pass. It was a full bottle, and it hurt a lot. If I take that on my nose, it’s broken,” he said at the time, calling it “attempted manslaughter.”

The fan later admitted their mistake: “I am so happy that he crossed the finish line first on Sunday, despite my stupid actions. I also owe an apology to every rider and cycling fan.” His encounters with reckless spectators don’t stop there.

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During his solo win at the E3 Saxo Classic, a fan spat at the world champion in the closing miles. Then at the 2023 UCI CX World Cup in Hulst, beer and possibly urine were thrown at him, resulting in van der Poel losing his cool and spitting in the direction of the fans.

Throughout it all, Mathieu van der Poel has finished with strength and kept his gaze focused on the race. While there has been an alarming rise of such incidents in the sport, van der Poel and even his rivals, including Tadej Pogacar and Wout van Aert, have urged authorities to introduce better preventative measures.