Mathieu Van der Poel fined pleading guilty to assault teenage girls

• Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel admitted to molesting two teenage girls.
• He was found guilty and received a total fine of A$1,500 ($974.85).
• The 27-year-old was charged with two counts of common assault in Australia.

Mathieu van der Poel allegedly confessed to molesting two teenage girls the evening before the world championship road race.

According to his attorney. The Dutch cyclist was found guilty and received a total fine of A$1,500 ($974.85).

After a fight with the kids, ages 13 and 14, who he said repeatedly knocked on his door and fled, the 27-year-old was charged with two counts of common assault.

According to New South Wales police, one adolescent was shoved against a wall and fell to the ground, while the other sustained a minor elbow cut.

When the hotel’s management was informed and the girls’ father reported the incident, the police were contacted.

“We went through the relevant events that occurred, he was arrested by police, was interviewed by police and said certain things to the police,” Van der Poel’s lawyer Michael Bowe told Reuters.

“Mathieu agreed with some of those allegations. On discussing it was agreed he should plead guilty. In Australia, if you plead guilty you can walk away with no conviction… but it was not the case here.”

Bowe announced that he would contest the judgement of guilt on both counts of assault. Van der Poel was also given permission to leave the country after receiving his passport returned.

Van der Poel and the Dutch Cycling Federation indicated they would not comment on the incident.

One of the favorites to win Sunday’s race in Wollongong, a coastal city in New South Wales, the Tour de France stage winner withdrew after just 30 of the 267 kilometers.

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Remco Evenepoel of Belgium won the world road race championship on Sunday after going off by himself.

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