Road racer Tibor Del Grosso announces himself with breakthrough win in Turkey: "Almost left it too late"

Sunday was a day for the pure sprinters, but the the second stage threw a lot more at the riders. It turned out to be a perfect setup for someone like Tibor Del Grosso. "We knew this would be a really good opportunity," he said during his flash interview after the win. "We all believed in it, and the team worked super hard. They were incredible today, so it feels amazing to finish it off."

At the Volta a Catalunya, the young Dutchman had already flashed his fast finish with a strong second place behind Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike). With a reduced bunch at the front, the door was wide open for a rider like Del Grosso. "It was a really tough finish. That final kilometer just kept dragging uphill. After the two earlier climbs, there was a real shot at dropping the pure sprinters. I think a finish like this really suits me, and I was able to show it today."

Pure sprinters like his teammate and race leader Simon Dehairs and veteran Alexander Kristoff could not hang on, which shifted a lot of attention onto Tibor Del Grosso. "I don't know if I was the top favorite. A few guys had been dropped, but there were still a lot of fast riders left in the group," he said. "The team kept me in great position, and after that it was all about giving everything to the line. In the end, I just had the most left."

The young all-rounder launched his sprint late, which turned out to be the right call on the tough uphill finish. Was that the plan? "Not exactly. I thought everyone still had something left, so I waited for the guy in front of me to go, but nobody moved. I almost waited too long, but luckily I was still able to come around. In the end, I won with a pretty good gap," he smiled.

Is Del Grosso now officially a road racer or still a cyclocrosser? "I am both," he laughed. "It is my first win on the road, but I have been developing on the road for a few years now, so it is not like this is my first road season."