Tibor Del Grosso does not count on winning the national cyclo-cross championships yet

Tibor Del Grosso will defend his Dutch national title next Sunday in Huijbergen, North Brabant, after a month in which he rose to the top of cyclocross. During the recent Christmas period, he was often the closest challenger to world champion Mathieu van der Poel, who, like in previous years, will not participate in the national championships. But that doesn’t mean the 22-year-old rider already feels confident of victory.

Result-wise, the World Cup race in Zonhoven last Sunday was a good finish for the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider. Behind Van der Poel, he put some distance between himself and riders like Thibau Nys, Emiel Verstrynge, Joris Nieuwenhuis, and Pim Ronhaar. That earned him second place.

Only a minor crash halfway through the race on a slippery patch of ice caused Del Grosso some concern afterward. “My knee still hurts a bit; I’ll have to clean it up properly,” the top talent explained to our camera.

“Racing differently”
That doesn’t lessen Del Grosso’s ambition for the national championship, but he remains cautious in his statements. “I would really like to win again. I think I’ll be the favorite beforehand, which was very different last year, of course,” he reflects. Back then, Del Grosso could race from an underdog position; now he will be targeted by the rest. “But just because I’m the favorite now, doesn’t mean it will be easy during Sunday’s race.”

“A championship is something different from a regular cyclocross race,” Del Grosso explains. “It’s different trying to beat those guys one-on-one. In Zonhoven, there were still quite a few other riders in between. Pim (Ronhaar, ed.) also rode a pretty decent race. Lars (van der Haar, ed.) and Joris (Nieuwenhuis, ed.) will be strong as well. I think it will be a tough battle again.”

Sand pit
There are some similarities between the courses in Huijbergen and Zonhoven, as the former also features a sand pit that will be decisive. However, the defending champion doesn’t have the best memories of it. “I’ve raced once before in Huijbergen as a junior, when the nationals were there. That didn’t go very well. Hopefully it will be better this time. Besides that, I have no idea what the course looks like now.”