Tibor Del Grosso says Van der Poel comparisons and pressure for his cyclo-cross and road future make perfect sense

Del Grosso turned 22 in July, so he's an old hand! That's nonsense, of course, because the Dutch all-rounder only rode his first full road season among the pros in the WorldTour in 2025. In recent years, he has mainly been seen in cyclo-cross. In 2020, he became the Dutch junior champion, in 2023, the Dutch U23 champion, and last winter, he won the red-white-blue jersey in the elite category.

And to think that Del Grosso still mainly rode in the U23 category in the 2023/2024 season. He became world champion, won the World Cup, and repeated the feat a year later. His Dutch title in the elite category only demonstrated his potential for the coming years—someone who has outgrown the U23 category, especially with a solid road season in his legs.

In recent years, Del Grosso has progressed just as quickly on the road as he has in cyclo-cross. After his transfer from Metec-Solarwatt p/b Mantel to the development team of Alpecin-Deceuninck in 2024, he immediately became Dutch champion in the U23 category, seventh in the European Championships, and eighth in the World Championships. He had already experienced several elite categories and made the switch in the winter of 2025.

In the WorldTour team with Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen, Del Grosso was immediately given a challenging program. He was allowed to find his feet in WorldTour races such as Paris-Nice and the Tour of Catalonia, but immediately competed for stage wins. In Catalonia, he finished third once and second once.

After an awe-inspiring sixth place in Dwars door Vlaanderen, Del Grosso's first professional victory came in the Tour of Turkey. He then finished fifth in the Tour of Norway. Things continued to go well from the summer onwards: fifth in the Antwerp Port Epic, third in Dwars door het Hageland, tenth in the Tour of Denmark, and ninth in the Renewi Tour.

Del Grosso ended his season on the road on Friday in the Serenissima Gravel with a third place. At the World Championships in South Limburg, he had a flat tire and was unable to achieve a top ranking. What now? First a vacation, then Del Grosso will pick up where he left off in cyclo-cross, where he will be competing in the elite category on behalf of Alpecin-Deceuninck. However, a start date has not yet been announced.

The pressure will undoubtedly be (even) greater on a talent who has already been compared to Van der Poel in recent years, both in cyclo-cross and on the road. Substance, strength, punch, technique... There is still a long way to go, but 2025 showed that Del Grosso, in his first full year as a pro, is already damn close to the men who were fighting for victories.

When IDLProCycling.com asked him about the pressure before the European Championships, Del Grosso shrugged his shoulders. "It's all happening step by step. Of course, I haven't been sitting still in recent years, and I've been doing well in cyclo-cross for a long time. The attention is not only nice but also a kind of confirmation that you're doing well and are one of the better riders in the Netherlands. I don't really feel any pressure from that."

Bram van der Ploeg ( Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])