“Winning gold against Mathieu? Not possible”: Tibor Del Grosso concedes Van der Poel dominance ahead of Cyclocross World Championships

The clearest assessment of the Cyclocross World Championships this week did not come from a rival team, a pundit, or an outsider. It came from inside Alpecin-Premier Tech itself. For Tibor Del Grosso, the question of gold in Hulst is already answered.

“Winning gold against Mathieu? Not possible,” Del Grosso admitted in quotes collected by Wieler Revue, offering a stark verdict on the current balance of power as Mathieu van der Poel heads into the World Championships off a run of total winter dominance.

It is not a throwaway line. Del Grosso has spent much of the season watching Van der Poel from the worst possible place for illusions: directly on his wheel.

He has finished second behind him multiple times, including in races where mechanical issues briefly threatened to complicate the outcome. Even then, the conclusion never changed.

Del Grosso pointed to Maasmechelen as a defining example. Two punctures might have disrupted Van der Poel’s race on paper, but not in practice. “How he comes back after that puncture and still wins. How he rides away from you while you’re trying to follow at full power,” Del Grosso said. The feeling, he explained, is not tactical frustration but outright powerlessness. “No one takes a corner with that speed and precision.”

That observation aligns with what this winter has repeatedly shown. Van der Poel has not needed sustained pressure or repeated attacks to break races open. He has waited, chosen a moment, and then ridden clear with an acceleration others simply cannot absorb. Even when delayed by bad luck, the outcome has felt inevitable.

Del Grosso’s conclusion is blunt, and for a top-level athlete, uncomfortable. The dominance has become so complete that the rest of the field is effectively contesting a separate race. “When he rode away from us in Hoogerheide, it became exciting for the other podium places,” Del Grosso explained. “That’s when a new race actually begins.”

Against that backdrop, Del Grosso’s outlook on the World Championships is grounded rather than defeatist. “I always start with ambition and, as an athlete, with the goal of reaching the highest possible,” he said. “But beforehand I would sign for silver or bronze.”

It is a remarkable concession, but one rooted in weeks of evidence. Van der Poel arrives in Hulst having rewritten the World Cup record books, riding at a level described by analysts as physically and mentally complete, and repeatedly turning elite chasers into spectators. The margins have not narrowed. If anything, they have stabilised.

“Winning gold in a race with Mathieu as an opponent, I don’t consider possible,” Del Grosso concluded.

In most World Championship build-ups, riders talk up opportunity and uncertainty. Del Grosso has chosen honesty instead. And in doing so, he has perhaps summed up this winter more accurately than anyone else.