Dad claims Dutch cyclist should be locked up over assault on girls

EXCLUSIVE: Furious dad claims Dutch cyclist should have been locked up over vicious assault on his daughter instead of being allowed to leave Australia with just a fine – as athlete argues he’s ‘not an aggressive person‘

• Mathieu van der Poel, 27, viciously assaulted three young girls in a Sydney hotel
• Father of a 13-year-old is angry the cyclist only walked away with a $1500 fine 
• His daughter was pinned to a wall and subsequently fell over during the assault
• One of her friends cowered in the corner in fear, while the other was injured
• The girls, 12 to 14, were playing knock-and-run before van der Poel chased them
• Photos showed the athlete leaning over one girl wearing only black briefs 

Pictured: John with his 13-year-old daughter

A furious dad claims famed Dutch cyclist should have been locked up for assaulting his 13-year-old daughter and her two young friends who were playing ‘knock-and-run’ at a Sydney hotel.

Mathieu van der Poel flew to the Netherlands on Tuesday after he was found guilty of two charges of common assault after unleashing on the girls at about 10.40pm on Saturday at the Novotel in Brighton Le Sands.

The 27-year-old said the children didn’t stop the prank even after his girlfriend, Roxanne Bertels, asked them to – so, instead of alerting hotel staff, van der Poel decided to chase them into the opposite room.

Shocking photos obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia show the athlete – dressed only in black briefs – leaning over a schoolgirl who was crouching on the floor and covering her face in terror.

When another girl, age 13, tried to escape the room, van der Poel pushed her into a wall with both hands, causing her to fall to the ground.

The cyclist was slapped with a $1500 in Sydney’s Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday, before flying back to the Netherlands. 

The girl’s father, John, told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday he was frustrated with the fine, and that the 27-year-old was able to leave the country.

‘If I assaulted children, I’d be locked up in jail for a year because I can’t afford bail,’ he said.

‘Child abuse is a big thing.’

John is pictured with his three children. One of his daughters, 13, was assaulted by the cyclist

The 43-year-old also said his daughter has been having nightmares about the assault. 

‘We went to the hospital on Sunday and I’m taking her to the psychologist because she’s scared,’ he said.

‘She’s worried she’s in trouble and has done something wrong because some people are blaming her and me, saying it was the girls’ fault and I’m a bad parent, but it was the school holidays – what kids at that age are going to bed at nine o’clock?’

He explained the kids shouldn’t have been playing the game, but that it didn’t justify van der Poel’s ‘unbelievable’ behaviour.

Despite reports that the hotel phoned triple-0, John said it was his terrified daughter who alerted police.

Novotel refused to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia. 

Pictured: Mathieu van der Poel leaning over a young girl – wearing only black briefs 

Upon landing at Brussels airport on Tuesday, van der Poel told local press he didn’t handle the situation well, but insisted: ‘I am not an aggressive person.’

‘I grabbed one of the girls by the arm but certainly not with the intention of hurting her,’ he said at the airport on Tuesday, as passers-by started filming the interview on their phones.

‘Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve never hurt anyone … Of course I regret it, I made a mistake. 

‘In retrospect, I know I could have acted differently … I should have called reception or let someone know, but thought I could fix the problem myself. It went wrong.’

He was in Sydney for the UCI Road World Championship race – a 266.9km race being held in Wollongong, south of the city – but withdrew because he was released from police custody at 4am on the morning of the race.

According to court documents, van der Poel grabbed a 14-year-old by both of her arms, squeezing them and pushing her against a wall while yelling at her. She a carpet burn graze to her right elbow and redness to her left forearm.

The girl ‘suffered a minor carpet burn graze to her right elbow and redness to her left forearm’.

Van der Poel’s girlfriend Roxanne Bertels (pictured together). He was fined $1500 over the assault

Upon landing a Brussels airport on Tuesday, van der Poel (pictured at the airport) told local press he didn’t handle the situation well, but insisted: ‘I am not an aggressive person

The 13-year-old ‘was in the same room’ while the cyclist was assaulting the other girl. She then ‘attempted to leave the room’.

Van der Poel then walked over and pushed her against a wall ‘using two open hands’ which caused her to fall ‘to the ground’.

The cyclist then went back to his room and police arrived about five minutes later.  van der Poel admitted following the girls and yelling at them.

On Tuesday, the sisters’ father Emad supplied a photo of his daughter’s injury showing layers of skin rubbed off in a nasty carpet burn. 

Emad said the angry cyclist was also ‘yelling at my youngest, the 12-year-old, saying “were you doing this as well” and she was freaking out. They are very shaken.

‘But they did get in trouble. They are in trouble,’ he said about the ‘knock and run’ prank the girls had engaged in before an enraged van der Poel lashed out at them.

‘He’s got every right to get angry, but not to do what he did.

‘They’re tiny little girls, and he’s massive.’

The young girls (pictured) who were caught up in the terrifying incident last Saturday in Sydney 

The girls’ father, Emad, (pictured) said his daughters had been ‘a bit naughty’ and that the cyclist ‘got every right to get angry, but not to do what he did’

Emad described the ‘nice weekend in town’ his wife, her friend, and their four daughters were enjoying in the beachside hotel before van der Poel’s extraordinary assaults.

‘My wife’s angry that he’s fled the country as well as what he did,’ Emad said. 

The cyclists competing in the final event on Sunday of the UCI Road World Championship had been housed in hotels across Sydney due to room shortages.

After dinner, the two mothers went into their shared hotel room, while the four young girls began to play up next door.

‘Look, I did things when I was their age, but the younger one had Covid only a few weeks ago and this was their time out,’ Emad said.

‘They were excited… but then they were a bit naughty.’

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