The spectator who threw a water bottle at Mathieu van der Poel, hitting the Dutchman in the face as he soloed to a third consecutive Paris-Roubaix victory on Sunday, has handed himself in to police, according to Belgian media outlet, Nieuwsblad.
Van der Poel was hit by the bottle on the Templeuve sector, with approximately 30km of the race remaining.
On Monday morning, Nieuwsblad reported that an unidentified man had handed himself in to police in West Flanders and reportedly expressed his regret about the incident.
Speaking to Sporza after the race, van der Poel described the incident as “attempted manslaughter”.
"We can't let this pass,” said van der Poel.
“It was a full bidon, and it hurt a lot. If I take that bidon on my nose, it's broken.
"Hopefully, the police can identify the man because there has to be a trial for this.
"This is attempted manslaughter. If the UCI doesn't take action, then we will do it with the team."
Van der Poel crossed the finish line at the Roubaix velodrome one minute and 18 seconds ahead of defending Tour de France champion – and Paris-Roubaix debutant – Tadej Pogačar.
Pogačar, the first defending Tour winner to ride Paris-Roubaix since Greg LeMond in 1991, had teed up a thrilling finale by matching van der Poel throughout the race.
The pair were leading until sector nine, approximately 40km from the finish, when Pogačar went into a tight right-hand corner too fast, and crashed on the grass verge lining the cobbles.
Pogačar didn’t require a bike change but lost time due to a dropped chain, and dropped further behind when he suffered a subsequent front-wheel puncture.
Van der Poel also punctured on the run-in to Roubaix but a quick bike change saw the 30-year-old re-establish his advantage to become the third rider in history – after Octave Lapize (1909-1911) and Francesco Moser (1978-1980) – to win Paris-Roubaix three times in a row.
