“If you ban alcohol across the country, you solve 90-95% of the problem.”

Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 9:10 am

Podcast The cross country Christmas period officially ends on Saturday and Sunday with Gullegem (Superprestige) and Zonhoven (World Cup). An incident-filled period too, culminating in Matthew van der Poel spitting at drunks who were booing Holst. How do you prevent it now? In the Wheeler Fleets Podcast Maxim, Yuri and Ziger try to answer that.

In the CyclingIn the podcast, the guys mention the potentially dire consequences of unruly and unsportsmanlike fans on the side of the cross. “It's actually a way to kick these guys out of the cross, right,” Maxim points out at the booing of Mathieu van der Poel. Yuri completely agrees with him. “In Holst, it was the known straw that broke the camel's back. Maybe he will stay out of the country for the winter. Will such a world-class player who earns millions a year lose his balls in the mud and defecate for a few shouts? I don't think so, if this continues “.

What can be done about it then? Maxim mentions a solution that has been around in cyclo-cross for some time. “One solution is to increase the distance between riders and the audience.” But Maxim himself has his reservations about this. It is unclear what financial consequences this amendment might have. The cost of increasing distance could be disastrous for the cross.

Zeiger agrees with Maxim's story, but in turn offers two other solutions. “One of the solutions that commentator Robin van Gucht himself put forward is social control among the fans. He put it this way, they are more men and they dare to talk to each other. I don’t think this will be a decisive solution.” Zeiger sees more plainclothes police at Cross. “If it's only 1% of the audience, there's not much. These cases can actually be removed by the police.

Yuri also contributes. He believes there is one simple and obvious solution: ban alcohol. “If you just ban alcohol on the cross, I think you'll solve 90 or 95% of the problems. Throwing urine isn't something you do if your mind is right.” The three masters agree, but Yuri still holds back on his statement. It's not that simple after all. “The problem is to what extent alcohol is necessary for the organizers to make the cross financially profitable.” Zeiger agrees with the ban and is also skeptical. “I'm still afraid of what will happen next. “I think there will be a great reaction from the fans.”

Listen to the WielerFlits Podcast from 01.30 on safety in cross country

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