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

[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?

[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…

[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.

[AJosiahK]

I try and give folks the benefit. But the more I watch it seems they certainly did that on purpose.

Wow. GTFO with that crap. fines ban etc. I cant imagine someone so ignorant of cycling... and basic physics would then arrive at a bike race only to toss something at the race leader.

why do some fans of whatever team boo when say a slugger on the opposing team, whos batting over .500 atm comes to bat.

[redir]

The one angle I saw in a video I could have been convinced it was a fan exited and waving a hat which they lost control of but that is very clear. Very clearly she (I think) tossed that hat into his front wheel.

[robt57]

She wouldn't like me on that jury. I doubt I'd get past process as a juror..

[ElvisMerckx]

I see a lot of 'burn the witch' reactions about this, but it looks like the hat harmlessly bounced off his bike and he MVdP continued without incident. What am I missing here?

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by ElvisMerckx

I see a lot of 'burn the witch' reactions about this, but it looks like the hat harmlessly bounced off his bike and he MVdP continued without incident. What am I missing here?

Sure, the woman caused no damage. But if I fire a gun at you and miss, I have still committed a crime. I'm not off the hook because I attempted and failed. The outrage associated with this woman's actions are in the same vein.

[GregL]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Sure, the woman caused no damage. But if I fire a gun at you and miss, I have still committed a crime. I'm not off the hook because I attempted and failed. The outrage associated with this woman's actions are in the same vein.

To use a cycling-specific example more closely related to this incident: a passenger in a passing car threw a large, fast-food fountain drink at me while I was cycling. The drink (in a large cup with cover) missed me and landed off the road. Had the drink hit me and caused me to crash, I could have been seriously injured. Regardless of the intent (deliberately causing me to crash or "just having fun") or the outcome (harmless miss or me crashing with injury), I wish the person throwing the drink could have been apprehended by law enforcement and charged with the appropriate crime. The outrage here is that she committed this act and (thus far) has not been charged under the appropriate statutes applicable at the site of the crime.

Greg

[ElvisMerckx]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Sure, the woman caused no damage. But if I fire a gun at you and miss, I have still committed a crime. I'm not off the hook because I attempted and failed. The outrage associated with this woman's actions are in the same vein.

Hat toss = Gun fire? Interesting. Burn the witch.

[shoota]

Originally Posted by ElvisMerckx

Hat toss = Gun fire? Interesting. Burn the witch.

Are you being purposely obtuse, or just trolling?

[deluz]

Originally Posted by GregL

To use a cycling-specific example more closely related to this incident: a passenger in a passing car threw a large, fast-food fountain drink at me while I was cycling. The drink (in a large cup with cover) missed me and landed off the road. Had the drink hit me and caused me to crash, I could have been seriously injured. Regardless of the intent (deliberately causing me to crash or "just having fun") or the outcome (harmless miss or me crashing with injury), I wish the person throwing the drink could have been apprehended by law enforcement and charged with the appropriate crime. The outrage here is that she committed this act and (thus far) has not been charged under the appropriate statutes applicable at the site of the crime.

Greg

I had that same incident but it was a full water bottle thrown at us on our tandem. It was in the mountains and we were able to get license # of the vehicle. When we finished our ride we went to the local Sheriff's station and reported the incident. The Sheriif's response was "you should not be riding on these roads".

[crankles]

Originally Posted by ElvisMerckx

I see a lot of 'burn the witch' reactions about this, but it looks like the hat harmlessly bounced off his bike and he MVdP continued without incident. What am I missing here?

At the speed he was travelling, a spoked wheel is basically a solid disc relative to something like the hat....and it bounced right off. However, imagine if the hat had sailed right in between the front tire and frame. It could have just as easily jammed up the front wheel/fork, locked it up and sent him sailing. I've had not too dissimilar incidents with seeming small sticks on the trail jamming up a front wheel...not probable, but possible