Del Grosso imitates Van der Poel: can he do the same on Sunday at Paris-Roubaix?

In just his second WorldTour season, Tibor Del Grosso is slowly but surely starting to mix it more and more with the big names in the classics. He was frequently at the front in Dwars door Vlaanderen and managed to win the Volta NXT a week later. Does Alpecin-Premier Tech already have the successor to Mathieu van der Poel in-house?

The 22-year-old Dutchman has long been a force to be reckoned with in cyclocross. On the road he is increasingly starting to grow in confidence. At the Volta NXT he out sprinted Mauro Schmid, one of the pre-race favourites.

It was not only Del Grosso's first victory of the season, but his first victory in a one-day race. In 2025, the Dutchman showed his early promise by winning a stage at the Tour of Turkey.

He skipped the Tour of Flanders this year, but according to Belgian newspaper Het Laaste Niews, there is a good chance that we will see the cyclocross rider at Paris-Roubaix.

A welcome helper for Van der Poel, who aims to beat Tadej Pogačar on Sunday to claim his fourth Paris-Roubaix victory. Alongside Del Grosso, the Dutchman should be able to count on Jasper Philipsen to help retain his title. He will need all the help he can get to beat the undefeated Pogačar of 2026.

Van der Poel and Del Grosso know each other well from cyclocross, but have also raced together many times on the road. Del Grosso featured in the successful Alpecin team for the E3 Saxo Classic, which Van der Poel won in emphatic style.

This week, the Instagram account of teammate Michael Gogl showed Del Grosso imitating his successful teammate by posing in his Tirreno-Adriatico points jersey. If he imitates Van der Poel's legs as well, it could be promising for Paris-Roubaix this coming Sunday.