Not everyone is Pogacar or Evenepoel - Van der Poel's teammate Tibor del Grosso wants expectations contained
Cycling
At 22 years of age, Tibor del Grosso seems to be navigating his way into the cycling world, thus far, with perfection. A decade ago not many riders of his age performed at the level the Alpecin-Deceuninck does at this point in time, but the evolution of riders such as Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel has, in his opinion, changed the perception of what young riders are typically capable of achieving.
Del Grosso, the current two-time under-23 Cyclocross World Champion, races for the same team that Mathieu van der Poel always has; is thriving in the discipline from a young age and making the transition into the road with lots of potential; and has the bike skills and charisma that characterized his compatriot in his early years. For many reasons he is often called the 'new van der Poel'.
But "people often forget that Mathieu has been racing single-cross longer, considering his age. He grew up with the Roodhoofts team in road cycling. That team only became WorldTour when he was 26," Del Grosso argued in an interview with Wielerflits' RIDE Magazine. Del Grosso is at the time still 22, and raced his first season with the World Tour structure this year. But he feels the pressure and expectations from the outside regarding him, much due to other riders who thrived or are currently at the top despite their very young age.
"He achieved a great deal at a young age, but he didn't really compete for trophies on the road until later. I hope they'll grant me that time as well. However, expectations for young riders are much higher these days. That's because young guys like Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogacar, Isaac Del Toro, and Paul Seixas are already delivering top performances so early".
Del Grosso perfectly on track
In cyclocross, the Dutchman is not only the future, but the present already. And on the road, he has had quite a stellar season, with lots of World Tour racing; coming close to taking his first World Tour win at the Volta a Catalunya; taking his first pro win at the Tour of Turkey; finishing fifth at the Tour of Norway and Top10 at the Renewi Tour confirming his talent also in multi-day races.
"We shouldn't take the achievements of riders like Evenepoel, Pogacar, Del Toro, and Seixas for granted. Exactly. That does happen a little, though. 2025, my first year in the WorldTour, started off incredibly well. In Catalunya, I was already close to winning a few stages, and a few days later I finished in the top ten in Dwars door Vlaanderen," he adds. "From that moment on, it suddenly seems the norm. People quickly forget how young you still are".
And like van der Poel, del Grosso will be a classics specialist with certainty, and one who could already become the legend's right-hand man this spring. "Absolutely [a surprise]. I really didn't expect to be able to ride finals at that level so quickly. After that, people immediately assume that's the new normal".
"That you're always competing for the top ten. I don't mind that. I've ridden pretty consistently well the rest of the year. But sometimes you forget how cool it is to ride in the second group in Dwars door Vlaanderen with guys like Mads Pedersen and Stefan Küng, who I always watched on TV. It feels like you're living your childhood dream," he concluded.
Del Grosso on the attack at Dwars door Vlaanderen. @Sirotti
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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