Unmasked: Cycling club president who knocked girl, 5, to the ground – as he breaks silence to blame HER for not moving out of his way and moan that her father made him ‘look very bad’ by posting video online

The mysterious man who became the world’s most hated cyclist after hitting a little girl and riding his bike without checking to see if she was okay was finally unmasked today and still blames the child.

Video of the incident, which occurred on a snowy road in a Belgian nature reserve on Christmas Day 2020, has since been viewed tens of millions of times around the world, but the identity of the culprit has always remained secret.

Today the Daily Mail can finally reveal that the infamous cyclist is retired Jacques Davenne, president of a local cycling club. Incredibly, Davenne still blames his five-year-old victim for not getting out of his way.

Unrepentant Davenne, 66, insisted today: ‘I didn’t do anything wrong… I rang my bell a few times.’

He even claimed to have filed an appeal.

The famous viral video came to the fore again this week as it emerged that the rogue cyclist had lost his long-running legal battle with the father of his five-year-old victim, Neia Mpasa.

Davenne, who has long been hidden behind Belgian secrecy rules, was not named at the hearings but was finally tracked down by the Daily Mail today.

Retired gardener Davenne was initially given a suspended prison sentence for the involuntary assault on the girl due to negligence, but was given no sentence after the judge decided he had already suffered enough due to huge worldwide criticism on social media.

Today the Daily Mail can finally reveal that the infamous cyclist is retiree Jacques Davenne (pictured), president of a local cycling club.

However, Davenne later sued the father, Patrick Mpasa, for libel, saying he felt so threatened by the outrage over his privacy that he had first published the footage and that he was afraid to leave his home.

Davenne initially won the case and was ordered to pay 4,500 euros in compensation to the girl’s family.

Instead they appealed, and this week, after a protracted three-year legal battle, a court in Liege overturned the decision in favor of Neia’s parents.

Davenne was still angry about the new ruling against him when the Daily Mail confronted him today.

The still angry cyclist said: ‘I’m sorry the case went against me because I still think I’ve done nothing wrong and I’m going to have a meeting with my lawyer to see if we can take this further.

‘The problem I had was my picture was posted online, it wasn’t fair and social media can be a huge problem. He had no right to do this.

‘My friends recognized me and kept asking me what happened, so I told them it was an accident, just one of those things.

‘But even after speaking to his father, as he knew a friend’s wife, things quickly spiraled out of control. Since no harm was done, I suggested we put this issue aside and forget about it.

‘But then the police got involved and even I was detained when the investigation began. ‘Things seemed to spiral out of control very quickly over something so small.’

He continued: ‘I still don’t understand how the decision was overturned, as far as I can see my picture should not have been published on the internet.

‘The court said it was freedom of expression and contributed to the debate between cyclists and pedestrians, which may be the case but it should not have been posted online.

‘I don’t understand how they came to a completely different decision. So I’ll talk to my lawyer to see what he says.’

And he went back to the original incident and explained why he still felt unfairly accused.

After the cyclist came out of the bend on the snowy road, he hit the young girl and knocked her into the snow.

He added: ‘I was cycling very slowly along the track and saw the girl and her mother in front of me, the father was filming.

‘I did what any good cyclist does and rang my bell a few times, but obviously they didn’t hear me so I cycled past him but as I did so I slipped and lost my balance a bit.

‘That’s when I hit the little girl, I stretched out my leg to keep my balance, I didn’t realize I hit her and I didn’t realize she fell to the ground as I was cycling past.

‘Then my father ran after me and scolded me.

‘My dad was very aggressive initially, he went to hit me, he said I knocked him over on purpose and he was going to call the police.

I said it was an accident and moved on.

‘Later when I saw the video on social media I realized he was filming me. A friend of mine knew the guy’s wife, so I contacted her and said, “Let’s just let it go.”

‘But he was persistent and the case was taken to court.

‘I still can’t believe this video spread all over the world.’

He said: ‘This whole thing has been so hard for me, my fellow cyclists understand it was an accident but I looked so bad because of the video.

‘Thankfully I have never met this man again, although I have been cycling there since then, but psychologically it affected me, although as I said it will not stop me from cycling.

‘Because I can assure you, I’m still cycling and I intend to continue cycling, it’s part of life and it won’t put me off at all, I’ve been cycling for years, I’m passionate about it.’

Footage of Neia falling after being shot by Davenne during a snowy walk in the Baraque Michel nature reserve near Verviers went viral around the world after it was first shared on Facebook by her father five years ago.

Mr Mpasa, who had previously been furious, said he chased after Davenne and managed to stop him but the cyclist showed no remorse.

“He explained what happened and asked us to withdraw our complaint to the police, but he showed no remorse and did not apologize,” Mr Mpasa said at the time.

‘A lot of people tell me I should have hit him but I disagree and in any case I was in front of my children which would have made things worse for them. ‘And I don’t want a witch hunt, I just want him to apologize.’

The family believed it was not an accident because the man did not stop to check if the girl was okay and continued on the bike.

At the hearing on February 3, 2021, Davenne claimed that the incident occurred because he was trying to maintain his balance.

At the hearing on February 3, 2021, Davenne (pictured) claimed the incident occurred because he was trying to maintain his balance.

He said: ‘When I approached the girl I felt my rear wheel slipping. I steady myself with a movement of my knee to avoid falling. I felt like I might have hit the girl, but I didn’t immediately realize she had hit the ground.’

However, the prosecution argued that his testimony seemed unlikely.

They said, ‘He was constantly disturbed by the people he had to get out of the way on the road.’ ‘He ‘kneed’ the child just because of his illness, because an obstacle appeared in his way many times.’