THE WOLLONGONG WORLDS... SPOILERS

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  • alan_a
    alan_a Posts: 1,587
    pblakeney said:

    flite said:

    I'm old-fashioned enough to say "where were the girls' parents?
    They are the ones that should be answering questions.

    Depends.
    Teenage girls can be 19.
    Reports say 13&14
  • flite
    flite Posts: 226
    I was relying on this reported police statement
    "The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was charged with two counts of common assault and fined 1,500 Australian dollars (£909) after a confrontation with the girls, aged 13 and 14."
    The twitter pst above (from Jose Bean) probably says the same thing in Dutch
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,419
    flite said:

    I was relying on this reported police statement
    "The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was charged with two counts of common assault and fined 1,500 Australian dollars (£909) after a confrontation with the girls, aged 13 and 14."
    The twitter pst above (from Jose Bean) probably says the same thing in Dutch

    In which case questions should be asked, and answered.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    If you were convicted of assaulting a 13 and 14 year old in the UK you be also guilty of child abuse. Which leads to all sorts of complications in regard to your own family.
  • pblakeney said:

    flite said:

    I'm old-fashioned enough to say "where were the girls' parents?
    They are the ones that should be answering questions.

    Depends.
    Teenage girls can be 19.
    News reports here says the girls are 13 and 14.
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,419

    pblakeney said:

    flite said:

    I'm old-fashioned enough to say "where were the girls' parents?
    They are the ones that should be answering questions.

    Depends.
    Teenage girls can be 19.
    News reports here says the girls are 13 and 14.
    Do keep up. 😉
    I responded to that information an hour ago.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,482
    edited September 2022
    What I don't understand is why there isn't a system in place to protect against interference of such kind for the athletes.

    Why is he in that hotel? Was that his choice?
    It seems like his career is being managed terribly. He pretty much owns WVA head to head and yet I'd say WVA's career is being managed fantastically. He is fit and ready at the right points. It really seems like MvdP wins despite a bunch of poor & self inflicted choices, instead of being put in the best situation to succeed. The lion share of blame rests on his shoulders here.

    Also, the messaging of the team boss was horrendous around the incident. Probably down to having to speak in English, but horrendous none the less. From a messaging point him calling the girls children instead of teenagers evocates a entirely different picture regarding MvdP's alleged "assault". Saying he is "mentally broken" prior to the RR is equally terrible PR.

    I also wonder if the teenagers then lied about the assault. Especially since MvdP is allowed to leave Australia after paying a fine which his lawyer is appealing.

    Why is there no person employed as a minder for the athletes? The same person they always call to handle whatever the issue is preventing them from focusing on their main objective. Didn't Dave Brailsford handle such issues for example or have such a person in place? Rich's example of Juraj Sagan is good too. But it could simply be a sensible person versed in PR.

    This whole story is so weird. I'm left with more questions than answers. In either case, I think a lion share of the blame rests with MvdP and the Dutch federation. They need to develop a system that ensures success. Clearly that isn't the case when you also look back on the ramp issue he had during the Tokyo Olympics.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • r0bh
    r0bh Posts: 2,448
    He was moved to a different floor than the rest of the team as he had cold-like symptoms is what I heard
  • flite
    flite Posts: 226
    If they really were 13/14 year old girls and were going around hotel corridors banging on the doors of strangers, they have got off lightly. The police need to sit them and their parents down and explain in graphic terms what the consequence could have been if they had knocked on the "wrong" door.
    A accept that there is a lot I/we don't know about the situation, but parents must take some responsibility.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,482
    r0bh said:

    He was moved to a different floor than the rest of the team as he had cold-like symptoms is what I heard

    But wasn't he in a hotel at the Sydney airport instead of close to the start location? Were the entire Dutch team there or just him? Was the female Dutch team also staying in that hotel?
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,708
    According to TCP - who weren't in possession of all the facts either - the dutch team were all there but he was on a different floor with his gf.

    I suspect we'll find out in due course but yeah, I think the behaviour of the girls may be called into question if it went anywhere near a court and I suspect that might be why it might all blow over rather quietly.

    Still...not a good worlds for Mathieu...

    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • alan_a
    alan_a Posts: 1,587
    m.r.m. said:

    r0bh said:

    He was moved to a different floor than the rest of the team as he had cold-like symptoms is what I heard

    But wasn't he in a hotel at the Sydney airport instead of close to the start location? Were the entire Dutch team there or just him? Was the female Dutch team also staying in that hotel?
    Dutch hotel was roughly same travel time from Helensburgh start as that for those teams based in downtown Wollongong, and arguably an easier drive than for the Belgians and Slovaks at Headlands.

    dutch = motorway

    Belgie = winding coast & mountain pass

    Dutch hotel had full gym & spa & private conference & dining rooms .

    Belgians and Slovaks were dining with us mere mortals... But all respectful cycling fans there for the race.

    Whereas the Dutch stayed on equivalent of a Britannia hotel on Brighton prom that I believe was used as a quarantine hotel.

  • m.r.m. said:

    r0bh said:

    He was moved to a different floor than the rest of the team as he had cold-like symptoms is what I heard

    But wasn't he in a hotel at the Sydney airport instead of close to the start location? Were the entire Dutch team there or just him? Was the female Dutch team also staying in that hotel?
    That hotel is not far from Sydney airport, true. It’s also probably the furthest south of all the half-decent hotels on the way out of town, so not surprising it was used.

    The race start was (I believe) in Helensburgh, which is a small town roughly halfway between Sydney and Wollongong. There aren’t any hotels there at all. Staying down in Wollongong would have been no closer really to the start location than where they were.


    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    edited September 2022
    either way, we can conject all we want, but not being part of the Dutch, Belgian or whoever management team we have no idea why anyone chose any of the hotels.

    i blame Expedia.

    #ifWiggledidhotels
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,419
    Everything seems to have been turned up to 11 for what could have been avoided.
    Nobody comes out of this well.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • I've got a lot of sympathy for VdP here because I hate being kept awake by inconsiderate people and it being deliberate and on the eve of the Worlds would cause me to flip.

    I wonder who called the police - if I was the dad of one of these girls I think my response would be it was 6 of one half a dozen of the other.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • flite
    flite Posts: 226
    Despite the highly biased reporting, the majority of the responding comments are critical of the two girls and the lack of control by their parents .
    Does all the Australian press hate cyclists as much as some of their UK counterparts?
  • flite said:

    Despite the highly biased reporting, the majority of the responding comments are critical of the two girls and the lack of control by their parents .
    Does all the Australian press hate cyclists as much as some of their UK counterparts?

    The 'Heil' as MF quite rightly calls it is only really interested in clicks. Don't think it's a case of Australians hating cyclist so much as a flashy headline about a professional athlete (a blaahdy foreigner at that!) assaulting two teenage girls to get internet traffic. They're not really bothered about whether the comments agree with the article or not but the "I blame the parents" style comments do seem in line with DM posters that I've seen in the past tbh.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Says something about the race that this is the biggest story, alas.

    Wasn't all that, was it? Good ride and all but hardly set anyone's imagination on fire.
  • I thought it was exciting up until the point Remco rode off and just kept extending the gap - but overall I didn't think it was too bad
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,204
    edited September 2022

    Says something about the race that this is the biggest story, alas.

    Wasn't all that, was it? Good ride and all but hardly set anyone's imagination on fire.

    It was an incredible ride - to do exactly what everyone expected him to try, and succeed again is ridiculous.

    This thread is pretty accurate:






    Etc
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,440
    edited September 2022

    I've got a lot of sympathy for VdP here because I hate being kept awake by inconsiderate people and it being deliberate and on the eve of the Worlds would cause me to flip.

    I wonder who called the police - if I was the dad of one of these girls I think my response would be it was 6 of one half a dozen of the other.

    I've been in this exact situation on a work trip, but I just called reception and got them bollocked. However, I wasn't competing in any world championships the next day, so I probably wasn't quite as stressed about being woken up at 3am...........

    I think grabbing them was rash and a bad idea but I understand why he did it.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,440
    flite said:

    I was relying on this reported police statement
    "The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was charged with two counts of common assault and fined 1,500 Australian dollars (£909) after a confrontation with the girls, aged 13 and 14."
    The twitter pst above (from Jose Bean) probably says the same thing in Dutch

    Jose Been has now deleted her twitter account after she insinuated that because MvdP was in his boxers [he was asleep...] it was sexual assault. She inevitably got backlash for that and then quit in a huff.

  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,419

    I've got a lot of sympathy for VdP here because I hate being kept awake by inconsiderate people and it being deliberate and on the eve of the Worlds would cause me to flip.

    I wonder who called the police - if I was the dad of one of these girls I think my response would be it was 6 of one half a dozen of the other.

    I've been in this exact situation on a work trip, but I just called reception and got them bollocked. However, I wasn't competing in any world championships the next day, so I probably wasn't quite as stressed about being woken up at 3am...........

    I think grabbing them was rash and a bad idea but I understand why he did it.
    I'm not arguing with your point but it needs a correction.
    The disturbance was at around 10:45pm. He was at the station and got back to his room around 4.00am.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,440
    pblakeney said:

    I've got a lot of sympathy for VdP here because I hate being kept awake by inconsiderate people and it being deliberate and on the eve of the Worlds would cause me to flip.

    I wonder who called the police - if I was the dad of one of these girls I think my response would be it was 6 of one half a dozen of the other.

    I've been in this exact situation on a work trip, but I just called reception and got them bollocked. However, I wasn't competing in any world championships the next day, so I probably wasn't quite as stressed about being woken up at 3am...........

    I think grabbing them was rash and a bad idea but I understand why he did it.
    I'm not arguing with your point but it needs a correction.
    The disturbance was at around 10:45pm. He was at the station and got back to his room around 4.00am.
    Yeah but I was! Something like that anyway, might have been a bit earlier to be honest, I don't really remember.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,419

    pblakeney said:

    I've got a lot of sympathy for VdP here because I hate being kept awake by inconsiderate people and it being deliberate and on the eve of the Worlds would cause me to flip.

    I wonder who called the police - if I was the dad of one of these girls I think my response would be it was 6 of one half a dozen of the other.

    I've been in this exact situation on a work trip, but I just called reception and got them bollocked. However, I wasn't competing in any world championships the next day, so I probably wasn't quite as stressed about being woken up at 3am...........

    I think grabbing them was rash and a bad idea but I understand why he did it.
    I'm not arguing with your point but it needs a correction.
    The disturbance was at around 10:45pm. He was at the station and got back to his room around 4.00am.
    Yeah but I was! Something like that anyway, might have been a bit earlier to be honest, I don't really remember.
    Fair.
    I thought you were talking about MvdP as that was how it was first reported.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • carbonclem
    carbonclem Posts: 1,793

    flite said:

    I was relying on this reported police statement
    "The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was charged with two counts of common assault and fined 1,500 Australian dollars (£909) after a confrontation with the girls, aged 13 and 14."
    The twitter pst above (from Jose Bean) probably says the same thing in Dutch

    Jose Been has now deleted her twitter account after she insinuated that because MvdP was in his boxers [he was asleep...] it was sexual assault. She inevitably got backlash for that and then quit in a huff.

    flite said:

    I was relying on this reported police statement
    "The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was charged with two counts of common assault and fined 1,500 Australian dollars (£909) after a confrontation with the girls, aged 13 and 14."
    The twitter pst above (from Jose Bean) probably says the same thing in Dutch

    Jose Been has now deleted her twitter account after she insinuated that because MvdP was in his boxers [he was asleep...] it was sexual assault. She inevitably got backlash for that and then quit in a huff.

    I hadn't twigged that she had quit, but yeah, I thought her reaction was pretty OTT.

    His reaction all made sense to me, in that I could see how he got to that situation, and also that he'd made a hash of it. Fair of him to accept and own it too.

    The girsls fathers latest comments make it clear the type of people they are, I reckon? No responsibility.
    2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner
  • gethinceri
    gethinceri Posts: 1,671



    Jose Been has now deleted her twitter account after she insinuated that because MvdP was in his boxers [he was asleep...] it was sexual assault. She inevitably got backlash for that and then quit in a huff.

    Shame, Jose Been is a sensitive soul, she takes a kicking frequently, and in many cases unfairly.