“If I assaulted children, I’d be locked up”: Father of teenage girls involved in Mathieu van der Poel hotel incident slams Dutch star’s fine

the Alpecin-Fenix rider will be unable to re-enter Australia for three years.

Australia?   That's a reward, not a punishment.

Bit of a muppet not calling hotel security to sort out, 'cos there are lots of compo scrounger ypes around these days, not afraid to use their kids.

What a fkn arse.

If that was my daughter, who is14, I would have been apologising and she would be grounded for a long time.

I'm just amazed the parents haven't had a visit from social services. Post pubescent girls knocking on strangers' hotel room doors at night, whilst the parents have no idea (and don't care) what they're up to? Could have been a tragically different story.

It sickens me that the parents cry "child abuse", firstly because by applying it so glibly they debase the term, and secondly because they overlook their own failings in safeguarding their daughters to begin with.

“If I assaulted children, I’d be locked up”:

"If I'd locked up my children they wouldnt have been assaulted"

Fixed that for him.

OMG.  The comments in the mail piece on this - for the first time ever - are nearly 100% pro cyclist.

Not linking cos its the Heil.

“My wife’s angry that he’s fled the country as well as what he did.”

He appeared in court, plead guilty, was fined, had his passport returned and took his pre-booked flight home.

It's not like he dyed his hair, got a false passport and resurfaced several weeks later taking yoga classes in Costa Rica.

Come on Road.cc

BACK TO BIKES.

This is tabloid shite

Any decent parent would be telling their kids that they learned a useful lesson - that actions have consequences. The kids had little more than a clip round the ear. If thse kids are seeing a psychologist now, the parents should look closer to home for the reason.

What a lot of rubbish. Of course VDP should have handled it better, but the kids were being stupid and trying to get a reaction. Which is what they got!

Only things to blame here are high teenage spirits and possibly poor parenting.

A night of lost sleep would hurt me more than a carpet burn. And I am not a pro cyclist making out money by having to be 100% alert. Let's rethink who got abused.

The guy is on the make, clearly.

My 12-14yr old daughters did not go to bed at 9 in the school holidays necessarily, but I knew where they were and they would not have been knocking on strangers hotel bedrooms. Get a grip man.

"but it was the school holidays – what kids at that age are going to bed at nine o’clock?”

When I was that age in the late 70's early 80's I was expected to be in bed at the very latest by 9pm. Scout night would have allowed a later night. Even at 16 when I was starting to socialise more,  I had a curfew of being home by 10 pm, though bed time was a bit later.  A lot of my peers were all in the same boat. Even when I was working in youth work our bed time for that age group on camps was strictly 9pm. I know society has moved on but I still can't get my head round parents allowing pre-teens to run riot at all hours. 

To call this 'child abuse' is terribly demeaning to anyone that has ever suffered child abuse!

Can I claim offence on their behalf and sue these parents?

Do you know what... 'a bit naughty' is not how I'd describe the behaviour of individuals aiming to deliberately jeopardise the livelihood of another person.

If those were my kids, I'd be ashamed. Ashamed at their behaviour, ashamed that my parenting (or lack of) had enabled such behaviour. Ashamed that my lack of parenting and the poor behaviour of my children had been made so visible. 

MVP got busted, and on balance rightly so, however these kids, and indeed all Australian kids, have just been empowered to act as they want, knowing there is realisitcally no consequences for their actions. 

It's an ugly episode for all parties. 

If you admit he had every right to be angry, Emad, why the F didn't you STOP your kids before things went this far??? 

So the kids need a psychologist because they provoked an athlete and then called the police?

F**k me, what a snowflake. Those parents seriously need to grow up and take some responsibility for themselves.

So MvdP can't return to Australia for 3 years due to a couple of kids not knowing how to behave in hotels.
Maybe Australian hotels - now that they have the family name - should refuse any booking from them for the same period of time .. in the interest of the safety and well-being of other hotel guests.