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Saturday, January 6, 2024, 9:10 a.m
Podcast The Christmas season in cross-country skiing officially ends on Saturday and Sunday with Gullegem (Superprestige) and Zonhoven (World Cup). A time full of incidents, culminating in Mathieu van der Poel spitting on booed drunks in Hulst. How do you prevent this now? In the WielerFlits Podcast Maxim, Youri and Zeger try to give an answer.
In the CyclingFlitsIn the podcast, the men mention the possible serious consequences of the unruly and unsportsmanlike fans on the side of the cross. “It’s actually the way to drive these men off the cross, right,” says Maxim, referring to the boos against Mathieu van der Poel. Youri completely agrees with him. “In Hulst it was the well-known straw that broke the camel’s back. Maybe he’ll stay away from cross-country skiing for a winter. Will such a global star, who earns millions a year, lose his balls in the mud and shit for a few bogeymen? I don’t think so if it continues like this.”
Then what can you do about it? Maxim mentions a solution that has been around in cyclocross for some time. “One of the solutions is to increase the distance between drivers and the public.” But Maxim himself has his reservations about this. It is unclear what financial consequences this adjustment would have. The cost of increasing the distance could have disastrous consequences for the cross.
Crowds at the cross in Hulst – Photo: Cor Vos
Zeger agrees with Maxim’s story, but again offers two other solutions. “One of the solutions that commentator Ruben van Gucht himself suggested is social control between fans. That, as he put it, they were a little more masculine and dared to talk to each other. I don’t think that would be such a decisive solution.” Zeger sees police officers in plain clothes on the cross. “If it’s just 1% of the audience, then it’s not that many. And these cases can actually be removed by the police.”
Youri also contributes to this. He believes there is a simple and clear solution: a ban on alcohol. “If you just ban alcohol on the cross, I think you solve 90, 95% of the problems. Throwing away urine is not something you do when you are in your right mind.” The three men agree, but Youri puts his statement into perspective. It’s not that simple. “The problem is to what extent alcohol is necessary for the organizers to make the cross financially viable.” Zeger agrees and is also skeptical about the ban. “I’m still afraid of what would happen next. I think there would be a lot of resistance from the fans.”
Listen to the WielerFlits podcast on the topic of off-road safety from minute 1:30
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