Even in Kaç, on the sun-drenched Turkish shores of the Mediterranean, Tibor Del Grosso was requested by the native press about his potential to fill the sneakers of teammate Mathieu van der Poel. There are a number of parallels between the Paris-Roubaix winner and Del Grosso, who claimed his first professional victory on Monday on the Presidential Tour of Turkey.
„I get in contrast lots with Mathieu van der Poel, being from the identical group and the identical nation, and perhaps the same sort of rider,“ Del Grosso answered, „however I do not like to check myself with different riders and particularly a rider like Mathieu. Individuals overlook how particular of a rider he’s. He is out of this world. I might love to return near being nearly as good as he’s however I do not know if a brand new Van der Poel exists.“
In lots of interviews beforehand, Del Grosso highlighted his admiration for his elder who had success each as a junior – successful a number of world championships in cyclocross and the junior highway title in 2013 – and on the very prime stage of professional biking. Van der Poel gained his first elite highway race on the age of 19 on the 2014 Ronde van Limburg, however solely began his highway profession full-time 5 years later when he was 24 years outdated.
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Like Van der Poel, Del Grosso can be a stand-out rider in cyclocross – he’s the reigning under-23 cyclocross world champion and gained the Dutch championships, 5 of six under-23 World Cup rounds and the general sequence.
Del Grosso is already on an eye catching trajectory on the highway, too, at age 21 in his first professional season on the WorldTour roster of Alpecin-Deceuninck after only one 12 months with their improvement group.
Earlier this season he got here second to British sensation Matthew Brennan in stage 5 of the Volta Catalunya in March, was sixth in Dwars door Vlaanderen and tenth in De Brabantse Pijl, and on Monday he took his first professional win in stage 2 of the Tour of Türkiye.
Requested if he is a highway rider now, he answered: „I am each.“ Like Van der Poel, cyclocross hasn’t misplaced the brand new versatile Dutch bike owner.
After standing on the highest step of the rostrum in Kalkan on Monday, Del Grosso had one other new expertise, too. He’ll begin stage 3 because the race chief because of the time bonus for his stage win. With a summit end in Akyaka on Wednesday, he is not anticipating to carry the lead for lengthy.
„It is the primary time I’ll lead a professional race – however on Wednesday, another person will go and seize the Turquoise jersey I put on now. We’ll attempt to defend it tomorrow – 9km of climbing on stage 4 can be an excessive amount of for me.“
Along with in-race firsts, Del Grosso is having fun with the possibility to go to new locations alongside the best way.
„I did not know a lot about this nation earlier than, apart from the great baklava,“ he mentioned. „Exterior of Europe, I’ve solely been to the US for racing as soon as. That is my first time right here. My group instructed me that it was alternative for me to get my first professional win this season. It is a good stage right here and it was good for me to return to construct my confidence as a highway rider.
„I already did some races with the WorldTour group final 12 months and I really feel that I’ve grown rapidly on the highway in half a 12 months. The start of this highway season was a bit robust however when I discovered a fine condition, the Spring Classics gave me affirmation that I had stage.“
