Teams & Riders The "MVP" Mathieu Van der Poel Road Discussion Thread

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I'm not sure I get your meaning but in my post the use of "fans" (plural) seems appropriate in this case, especially when perusing social media (or sites like Wielerflits).

Someone earlier in this thread said the "forum mob" would have a "field day" over this incident, but as far as I can see, several hours later it's the Van der Poel fans who're having an absolute mare downvoting criticism, digging up real or imaginary fan behavior & using that as justification... it's wild. Apparently, spitting at people is just a "human reaction". Yep. Not in any civilized European country of course but hey, this is pro-sports & fanboyism reigns supreme. Morality is flexible & entirely case dependent.

A millionaire sportsman basically spat at a bunch of spectators whilst doing his job. I mean, there's no way this can be sugar-coated into anything other than "he f*cked up, big time".
 
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I'm not sure I get your meaning but in my post the use of "fans" (plural) seems appropriate in this case, especially when perusing social media (or sites like Wielerflits).

Someone earlier in this thread said the "forum mob" would have a "field day" over this incident, but as far as I can see, several hours later it's the Van der Poel fans who're having an absolute mare downvoting criticism, digging up real or imaginary fan behavior & using that as justification... it's wild. Apparently, spitting at people is just a "human reaction". Yep. Not in any civilized European country of course but hey, this is pro-sports & fanboyism reigns supreme. Morality is flexible & entirely case dependent.

A millionaire sportsman basically spat at a bunch of spectators whilst doing his job. I mean, there's no way this can be sugar-coated into anything other than "he f*cked up, big time".
Embarrassing and I am not talking about MVDP.
 
I haven't had the opportunity to watch the race, yet. Explosive entertainment!

Just by glancing the recent pages of this thread I see several Gary Larson "Stimulus - Response" drawings before my eyes. This on several levels :p

MvDP will learn his lesson - in one way or another, sooner or later :cool:
 
We have entered into an upside down parallel dimension where the guy who spits on people is a hero & those who criticise his behavior are the 'embarrassing' bad guys.

I can only shrug at this point. Let's hope the UCI & the people in charge of the disciplinary stuff follow the rulebook.
Bro you've made your point painfully clear. We get it.
 
I'm not sure I get your meaning but in my post the use of "fans" (plural) seems appropriate in this case, especially when perusing social media (or sites like Wielerflits).

Someone earlier in this thread said the "forum mob" would have a "field day" over this incident, but as far as I can see, several hours later it's the Van der Poel fans who're having an absolute mare downvoting criticism, digging up real or imaginary fan behavior & using that as justification... it's wild. Apparently, spitting at people is just a "human reaction". Yep. Not in any civilized European country of course but hey, this is pro-sports & fanboyism reigns supreme. Morality is flexible & entirely case dependent.

A millionaire sportsman basically spat at a bunch of spectators whilst doing his job. I mean, there's no way this can be sugar-coated into anything other than "he f*cked up, big time".
You make a point of speaking of a "civilized European country". Do you have any examples of "uncivilized", perhaps non-European ones? Please be so kind and provide them.
 
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We have entered into an upside down parallel dimension where the guy who spits on people is a hero & those who criticise his behavior are the 'embarrassing' bad guys.

I can only shrug at this point. Let's hope the UCI & the people in charge of the disciplinary stuff follow the rulebook.
The guy didn't spit on people randomly. I for one am not calling MVDP a hero, far from it. But I find it utterly shocking how casually some think he is just supposed to roll over and accept having beer (and possibly other stuff) thrown at him! Want to boo? Great, booing is fine, you're allowed not to like someone. But in my mind, throwing beer and urine at people crosses the line into assault, and no one should have to accept that kind of crap.

It's 2023 ffs, and way past time where we should be looking at the riders as mere cannon-fodder for our entertainment, having to accept whatever sh*t is thrown at them with absolutely no recourse. Are there better ways to respond? Certainly there are. But I would LOVE to see how sanguine some of you would be if you were in Mathieu's shoes; something tells me a lot of you wouldn't be so quick to just roll over. It's time organizers got a lot tougher with this crap; boo all you want, but the minute you're seen throwing anything at the riders, you're ejected from the venue, no refunds, no questions asked.
 
You make a point of speaking of a "civilized European country". Do you have any examples of "uncivilized", perhaps non-European ones? Please be so kind and provide them.

Haha! You can't be for real. This is just sad. Try something else.

The guy didn't spit on people randomly. I for one am not calling MVDP a hero, far from it. But I find it utterly shocking how casually some think he is just supposed to roll over and accept having beer (and possibly other stuff) thrown at him! Want to boo? Great, booing is fine, you're allowed not to like someone. But in my mind, throwing beer and urine at people crosses the line into assault, and no one should have to accept that kind of crap.

It's 2023 ffs, and way past time where we should be looking at the riders as mere cannon-fodder for our entertainment, having to accept whatever sh*t is thrown at them with absolutely no recourse. Are there better ways to respond? Certainly there are. But I would LOVE to see how sanguine some of you would be if you were in Mathieu's shoes; something tells me a lot of you wouldn't be so quick to just roll over. It's time organizers got a lot tougher with this crap; boo all you want, but the minute you're seen throwing anything at the riders, you're ejected from the venue, no refunds, no questions asked.

There's nothing on camera other than the rider spitting at the spectators. The beer & urine is just hearsay at this juncture.

Boos & insults are not unique to cycling. It's in every sport. It'll never be policed either, least of all in cycling.

It's only now an 'issue' because some people cannot accept VdP made a huge mistake.
 
We have entered into an upside down parallel dimension where the guy who spits on people is a hero & those who criticise his behavior are the 'embarrassing' bad guys.

I can only shrug at this point. Let's hope the UCI & the people in charge of the disciplinary stuff follow the rulebook.
Who said van der poel was a hero? Of course it would be better that he didn't react by spitting in those belgian morons, but if it's true what they did to van der poel, i don't blame his reaction, he is human, he have emotions.

If someone spits in you, or punches you, you will not do nothing?


First of all, and above all you should condemn what those morons did to van der poel, then of course van der poel should had not react to the situation, it gives him a bad image, but i understand his side, we are not robots.
 
There's nothing on camera other than the rider spitting at the spectators. The beer & urine is just hearsay at this juncture.

Boos & insults are not unique to cycling. It's in every sport. It'll never be policed either, least of all in cycling.

It's only now an 'issue' because some people cannot accept VdP made a huge mistake.
As I said in my post, the booing and insults are not the problem (although they can easily veer into being a problem when you look at the racial abuse hurled at black footballers). And riders have been complaining about having beer and urine thrown at them forever; would you be willing to bet your life no one threw beer at MVDP? I sure wouldn't, but we shall see.
 
Who said van der poel was a hero? Of course it would be better that he didn't react by spitting in those belgian morons, but if it's true what they did to van der poel, i don't blame his reaction, he is human, he have emotions.

If someone spits in you, or punches you, you will not do nothing?


First of all, and above all you should condemn what those morons did to van der poel, then of course van der poel should had not react to the situation, it gives him a bad image, but i understand his side, we are not robots.
Yes, you should know. You've been there.
 
Laughing so hard at the usual suspects here. MVDP could eat a baby and they'd be like "I know it's a bad look but nobody is perfect and that baby was asking for it"
I can't speak for others here, but I'm not really an MVDP fan at all; give me Pogi all day long. I'd be supporting ANY rider in this situation, over a bunch of drunken a**holes. Maybe the 'usual suspect's are really the ones who think the riders should endure any and all abuse from fans, as long as they are entertained?
 
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