A woman accused of intentionally throwing a cycling cap at Mathieu van der Poel during his ride to victory in Paris-Roubaix has been offered a deal to avoid charges of intentional assault and battery.
The incident came with 42km to go in the 2024 edition of Paris-Roubaix while Van der Poel was in the midst of a winning solo breakaway. The women could be seen in video throwing her hat toward Van der Poel’s bike. Fortunately, the cap bounced off did not get lodged in his drivetrain or cause any other problems.
The Flemish woman is being accused of throwing the cap with intent to harm Van der Poel but insists she had no such goal.
However, the French cycling union (L’association Nationale des Coureurs Français) decided to file a complaint with the police for ‘intentional assault and battery’. On Friday, the union offered to drop the complaint on three conditions, according to Wielerrevue.nl.
The union wants the woman to admit wrongdoing, volunteer for the ‘Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix’, a volunteer group that helps to maintain the cobbled sections of the race route, and finally, to become the face of a public campaign to encourage safety from cycling fans.
The woman has yet to be named, and agreeing to the terms would remove her anonymity, something her lawyers said they will consider.
“We have received the cycling union’s proposal,” says her lawyer. “We will now discuss it thoroughly to see whether we can respond to it. My client wants to take responsibility, but we want to see the proposals first.”