Marc Sergeant sees striking parallel between van der Poel and his 'successor' Del Grosso: "Clearly the strongest rider"

Marc Sergeant saw a very strong Del Grosso in the Tour of Limburg, who single-handedly caught up with the early breakaway riders in the final. "Tibor del Grosso's effort in the penultimate lap was essential because otherwise, those four breakaway riders would have had a chance to stay ahead," the Belgian said in his analysis for Het Nieuwsblad. "In the final lap, Del Grosso was the strongest rider on the hills and cobblestones. Unfortunately for him, the last ten kilometers were almost a straight line, with the wind in his back."

It's still early days, but the former team manager can see that the youngster fits in well at Alpecin-Deceuninck. "Del Grosso is yet another cyclo-cross rider that the Roodhooft brothers have brought from the field to the road. Another top talent, that's for sure. He narrowly missed out on winning a stage in the Tour of Catalonia. It's clear that Alpecin-Deceuninck is unlocking great talent. And once again, many of these riders come from the cyclo-cross and excel on the road."

Sergeant believes that Mathieu van der Poel has a logical successor in Del Grosso. His team is, therefore, the ideal place to further develop his talents. "Mathieu van der Poel is the big example, but after Gianni Vermeersch and Quinten Hermans, you now have Timo Kielich and Tibor del Grosso. How do you make the transition from cyclo-cross rider to road cyclist? None of the teams have mastered this better than Alpecin-Deceuninck."

Alpecin-Deceuninck is perhaps the team to beat this spring. "It's still amazing how they controlled Paris-Roubaix last Sunday and did the same four days later in the Tour of Limburg," said Sergeant, who also saw a nice parallel with van der Poel and Del Grosso. "I know we already participated in this race with Lotto in 2014. We had Greg Henderson as our sprinter. We thought he was unbeatable. Who won? Mathieu van der Poel, 19 years old." It was the first victory for the then very young cyclo-cross rider; 53 more victories have followed (so far).