The judge sentenced him to a fine of one thousand Australian dollars (670 euros) for assaulting one girl and another five hundred dollars (335 euros) for his behavior towards the other, reported on Monday Dutch television NOS.
Mathieu van der Poel’s lawyer has announced that he will appeal the decision and hopes for his client’s acquittal.
The judge accused van der Poel of taking the law into his own hands. According to the judge, he should not have done so but called hotel security.
Van der Poel spent the night from Saturday to Sunday in jail for shoving two teenage girls, 13 and 14, following the hotel called the police. The nervousness of the winner of the last Tour of Flanders was explained because the teenagers made noise and knocked on his door from his hotel room several times while he was trying to sleep on the eve of the world championship.
The judge did not take into account the fact that he is a professional athlete. The fact that he was taking part the next day in a big race did not constitute a mitigating circumstance for the judge.
Mathieu van der Poel abandoned the world championship on Sunday, won by Remco Evenepoel, following 30 kilometers.
