"There's already a radical difference": Paul Herygers looks forward to Del Grosso-Nys rivalry in years to come

The 2026 cyclocross World Championships were a massive showcase of dominance from the home team who ended up taking 5 out of 7 available rainbow jerseys alongside a range of silver and bronze medals especially in the elite categories. Such was the story of Dutch talent Tibor del Grosso, two-time under-23 world champion, who had to settle for a second place behind phenomenal Mathieu van der Poel.

"I feel especially sorry for Tibor del Grosso. He's the biggest talent in the Netherlands. But as long as Mathieu is competing, he'll remain second," Dutch journalist Johan Derksen said on Vandaag Inside programme.

Del Grosso's duel for second place against Thibau Nys was what spiced up the Sunday's main event, and as both men were born just a single year apart, we can look forward to seeing more of their duels in the future; perhaps even replacing the Van Aert-Van der Poel headline rivalry of the last decade.

That is why we shouldn't feel sorry for the talents who are likely to win a number of rainbow jerseys for themselves once Van der Poel's cyclocross career comes to a wrap. "These are the men of the future," Sporza commentator Paul Herygers countered. "The rest are slowly starting to have a problem."

At first glance, Del Grosso and Nys seem very close to each other. After all, even at the World Championships, both put the other in difficulties on different sections of the race, and it was only in the last lap where a small mistake from Nys decided that Del Grosso would take home a silver medal.

"They're so evenly matched that I'm inclined to call it a 50/50 split," Herygers analyzes. Yet, there's at least one aspect of racing where the commentator sees Del Grosso head and shoulders above his rival - sand.

"There's already a radical difference," says Herygers about their qualities on the characteristic terrain obstacle. Herygers doesn't mince his words when describing Del Grosso's mastery on the challenging sand sections.

"If those two ride Koksijde for ten years, it will be ten zero, unless a great star falls," Herygers sees no hope for Nys on courses where sand is a major obstacle to riders.

Does this mean Nys will inevitably follow the path set by his predecessor Van Aert - to be eternally second (even though Wout Van Aert won three world titles...)? Absolutely not, according to Herygers, who believes in his compatriot's other strengths to outweigh this particular weakness. "For Belgium, he's our ultimate leader. He'll be the man of the future."

"His only goal now is Del Grosso. He has to try to follow him and beat him regularly, or as much as possible," said Herygers. The analyst also believes Nys needs to be smarter about his tire choices. During the live broadcast, Herygers was critical of Nys's tire choice and his decision not to "shoulder" the bike uphill. "You could at least compare what Van der Poel rides and what the Roodhoofts ride. That's about the tubulars. That's the only thing that really matters."