Pogacar already defeated MVDP in 2023 in De Ronde.How about Pogi's "little" progression since 2024?
. RVV is a race where the pressure has to be more noticeable than in Liège.Thanks. I checked the balance of the coverage and Pogi's came at 20+km to go. Both had instant service from team cars with only Pogacar risking getting caught by the 3 ....2 chasers. Vermeersch seemed to annoy Wout by not pulling. VanAert must've been seriously bent to waste energy trying to convince him to chase MvP.
Yes and I think the only appropriate penalty for that is: the offender must be accompanied by the local gendarmes to the drug-testing protocol. There that offender can receive what he had thrown by each and every rider tested.
| Date | Race/Event | Location | Description of Abuse |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 3, 2019 | UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships | Bogense, Denmark | (Belgian) fans doused him in beer and verbally abused him during the race. |
| December 30, 2023 | UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup | Hulst, Netherlands | A group of (Belgian) spectators threw beer and urine at him while he was racing; he was also booed throughout. |
| March 31, 2024 | Tour of Flanders | Flanders region, Belgium | Fans (Belgian) swore at him and doused him in beer as he passed. |
| April 7, 2024 | Paris-Roubaix | Northern France | A (Belgian) female spectator threw a cycling cap at his front wheel in an attempt to disrupt him. |
| March 28, 2025 | E3 Saxo Classic | Harelbeke, Belgium | A (Belgian) spectator spat at him while he was en route to victory. |
| April 13, 2025 | Paris-Roubaix | Templeuve cobbled sector, France | A (Belgian) spectator threw a full water bottle directly at his face while he was riding at high speed; he described it as painful and potentially dangerous. |
| April 13, 2025 | Paris-Roubaix | Carrefour de l’Arbre sector, France | Another (unconfirmed nationality) spectator threw a drink at him during the race. |
| December 22, 2025 | X2O Trofee cyclo-cross | Hofstade, Belgium | A (unconfirmed nationality) spectator blew vape smoke directly into his face as he passed by. |
Nah, this isn't it. You're missing the point, it's the fact that MVP is Dutch. This is the reason that it's mostly Belgian fans. Also, it's not only at CX races as my post clearly shows, which further proves my point.
I would exclude verbal abuse and booing. If you can't take that you shouldn't be a professional athlete
There was no instance where it was only booing or verbal abuse in my post. It was always accompanied by a beer or urine dousing.
It's a MVP thread on a cycling forum and he's been subjected to a disproportionate amount of abuse by these losers. The most recent one was today. So it's odd that you think it's odd that it's discussed in here. It deserves every bit of attention it gets.
I understand but I would still remove that because it doesn't physically interfere with the rider
It's a description of everything that happened. Moreover, verbal abuse is still abuse, even if it doesn't physically interfere with the rider. Even if you need to have thick skin as a professional athlete in these instances it's still deplorable behavior by simple-minded "fans". Just because you need to be able to tolerate verbal abuse in your profession doesn't make it right to have to be subjected to it. So it stays.
Your point was it’s Belgian fans. I agreed with that point. I didn’t miss anything. I only added some context. Van der poel has more die hard cross fans in Belgium than anywhere else in the world, simply because there are, for starters, more cross fans than all other countries combined. He lives in Belgium by the way and probably identifies as partly Belgian.
You did miss the point though, because the context you added reframes the issue as random probability, while my argument is about motive, not odds.
Van der Poel stated he did not believe that was intentional.
It must become tiresome for MVP, organizers and Belgian pundits to have to explain away these incidents. That doesn’t mean this specific incident must have been intentional, it very well could have been an accident. The issue for me is the pattern, which makes it harder and harder to keep believing these downplaying attempts and "Mea nulla culpa" stances from the culprits. Oh well...
Cry me a river. A true professional and champion doesn't get the same satisfaction from not beating the best. It'll always be "but MVP wasn't there". I'm certain that Nys Jr. and WvA would attest to getting way more satisfaction from beating the very best then anyone else.
You shouldn't have to endure it but you also shouldn't be bothered by it when it does happen
Wrong again.
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