Successor of Mathieu van der Poel continues to impress with 6th place at Dwars door Vlaanderen: "I had some doubts, but they can go away now"
Cycling
Visma | Lease a Bike and especially Neilson Powless stole the show today at Dwars door Vlaanderen, but behind we witnessed an interesting battle for places of honor. In the mix was the revelation of Volta a Catalunya - Tibor del Grosso. In absence of Mathieu van der Poel, the 21-year-old kept up with the best and ultimately grabbed a fine 6th place.
"That’s certainly not bad," he summarized briefly for WielerFlits afterwads. "Unfortunately, I was just too far ahead of Berg ten Houte, where Visma | Lease a Bike stretched the peloton to the side. I was behind the gaps there. It’s not that I was so surprised, because I knew they could make that approach tough. But I didn’t expect so many guys to be sent out. That creates gaps that you can’t close quickly."
Del Grosso was by far one of the most active pawns behind the leading group of four. "I thought we were going to come back one more time, but Van Baarle rode very defensively. We just couldn’t get it done. I never believed in it again after that. It never went so well, but with the six pursuers I thought we could make an attempt. Unfortunately it didn’t go fast enough. I wanted to try and a few riders jumped towards me."
After his strong Volta a Catalunya, the U23 cyclocross world champion continues to confirm his potential with impressive performances on the road too. "This means a lot, especially because I had a bit of a cold and was sick when I left Catalunya [Del Grosso abandoned ahead of last stage, ed.]. I had some doubts, but I am glad that they can go away now. What does this mean for the future? We will see."
Dutch fans certainly won't complain if Del Grosso was to become the successor of Mathieu van der Poel both on road and in the field...
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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