New footage of spectator incident with Van der Poel at Paris-Roubaix

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Not sure I can follow this logic... Do something that could seriously injure or kill a rider in the middle of a crowd of spectators, but it is ok because it was done for fun?

I'm guessing the thought is similar, in an extreme way, to murder and negligent homicide.. the former was done with intent and the latter was a result of someone's negligence.. wasn't done on purpose, but the person is still held accountable.. certainly the lady threw the hat on purpose, but did she intend to harm the rider (maybe she did) or just thought "it would be fun"? at least that's my very uneducated understanding of negligence from watching some tv and taking a business law class.. so take it with a grain of salt..

the act was wrong and I hope she is held accountable for sure!

[edgerat]

Originally Posted by fourflys

I'm guessing the thought is similar, in an extreme way, to murder and negligent homicide.. the former was done with intent and the latter was a result of someone's negligence.. wasn't done on purpose, but the person is still held accountable.. certainly the lady threw the hat on purpose, but did she intend to harm the rider (maybe she did) or just thought "it would be fun"? at least that's my very uneducated understanding of negligence from watching some tv and taking a business law class.. so take it with a grain of salt..

the act was wrong and I hope she is held accountable for sure!

In my state I could make a great argument that anyone at a cycling event would have some knowledge of how things work and would know that tossing the hat AT the wheel would/could cause a wreck. Negligence and intent have an extremely gray line between them.

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by edgerat

In my state I could make a great argument that anyone at a cycling event would have some knowledge of how things work and would know that tossing the hat AT the wheel would/could cause a wreck. Negligence and intent have an extremely gray line between them.

I saw an article a few days ago on a Belgian site that showed a different cell phone angle of the women. She actually walks up, looks left and right to see if anyone is watching her, then aims and shortarms the cap at the wheel. Clearly premeditated. The article also said that in Flanders, there is a specific law that says when a cap is thrown into spokes of a bike, the cap is considered a deadly weapon. This seems in order for a cycling nation like Belgium to have that one covered.

[Onno]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

I saw an article a few days ago on a Belgian site that showed a different cell phone angle of the women. She actually walks up, looks left and right to see if anyone is watching her, then aims and shortarms the cap at the wheel. Clearly premeditated. The article also said that in Flanders, there is a specific law that says when a cap is thrown into spokes of a bike, the cap is considered a deadly weapon. This seems in order for a cycling nation like Belgium to have that one covered.

The law specifically refers to a cap? That seems oddly specific, as though it was written for just this event. Is there a history of throwing caps into bike wheels in Belgian races?

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by Onno

The law specifically refers to a cap? That seems oddly specific, as though it was written for just this event. Is there a history of throwing caps into bike wheels in Belgian races?

This guy must've run amok in Flanders before England's finest took him down:

Originally Posted by dgauthier

I respectfully disagree. If the woman had no idea a hat could send the rider over the bars, *what was the purpose of flinging a hat at his bike*?

If you watch the first video of the frame-by-frame slow motion, you can see she even timed the throw to ensure the hat hit the front wheel. It was intentional, malicious, and the old creep knew exactly what she was doing.

+1 on this. The other angle (from behind MVDP) wasn't as clear, but the front angle clearly shows her timing her throw and aiming the hat towards his wheel. If she just tossed the hat up, trying to hit him or even have him run into it like someone throwing rice at a wedding it might've been excusable as idiocy/ignorance, but she frisbee-tossed it into his spokes. That's malicious intent.

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by Onno

The law specifically refers to a cap? That seems oddly specific, as though it was written for just this event. Is there a history of throwing caps into bike wheels in Belgian races?

That's what made me chuckle. Only in cycling mad Flanders.

[Onno]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

That's what made me chuckle. Only in cycling mad Flanders.

Seems like something out of a short story by Borges. It really is funny.

[rwsaunders]

As a gesture of good sportsmanship, van der Poel should send the perp the name of the attorney that had his common assault conviction overturned in Australia…