A man has gone to the police in Belgium after throwing a water bottle that hit cyclist Mathieu van der Poel in the face during the Paris-Roubaix race on Sunday.
Van der Poel was in the lead with 23 miles left when the bottle hit him on a narrow cobbled road lined with fans.
The man turned himself in at a police station in West Flanders on Monday.
Van der Poel still won the race, making it his third win in a row. He later said the bottle felt like “being hit by a stone” because it was almost full and weighed about half a kilo.
The public prosecutor, Filiep Jodts, told BBC Sport that the man gave a statement to police and an official report was made. A decision on what to do next will be made soon.
Despite the incident, Van der Poel won the race by more than a minute ahead of his rival, Tadej Pogacar, the current Tour de France champion.
The 30-year-old Dutch cyclist now has eight Monument wins, tying with Pogacar. In recent years, he has had several issues with fans.
In December 2023, during a race in the Netherlands, he spat at fans after they booed him and threw drinks. In April, someone threw beer at him during the Tour of Flanders. In March this year, he was spat at during the E3 Saxo Classic in Belgium.
On Sunday, he said something needs to be done about this kind of behavior. “People spitting and throwing things, it’s too much. I’m going to ask for action,” he said.
The Paris-Roubaix race goes through northern France and attracts about 500,000 spectators. This year’s race was 259.2 km (161 miles) long, with about 20% of it on cobbled roads.