Tibor Del Grosso makes a strong impression during his first Flemish classics, despite shortcomings in his preparation

For Alpecin-Deceuninck, it was important to keep an eye on two men ahead of Dwars door Vlaanderen: Jasper Philipsen and Tibor Del Grosso. While the outspoken leader ultimately did not make it to the finish line in Waregem, the rookie from Eelde in the Netherlands finished sixth in Gent-Wevelgem in his first professional experience in the Flemish Ardennes.

Alpecin-Deceuninck set their sights on Philipsen, who had already shown in the Opening Weekend and Gent-Wevelgem that he was excellent at climbing hills. In Dwars door Vlaanderen, however, the sprinter, who had crashed heavily in Nokere Koerse, was unsuccessful: Philipsen could not follow the better riders and eventually abandoned the race. The Tour of Flanders is not normally on his schedule, but the Scheldeprijs and Paris-Roubaix are.

In the absence of Philipsen and Kaden Groves, who had to withdraw in Catalonia due to knee pain, Del Grosso was given the honor of riding in his place, which he did excellently on the cobblestones with his characteristic style. He flew over the cobblestones and made several reasonable attempts to catch the leading group, only to end up in the first chasing group. From that position, he finished sixth, behind Pedersen and the men ahead of him, as best of the rest.

Del Grosso was understandably pleased with his race. 'Not too shabby' was his Strava title. "That was a great junior race," he said, referring to the long final. Even more impressive: Del Grosso had already withdrawn from the final stage of the Tour of Catalonia last Sunday and was just hoping to be fit enough to race the Dwars door Vlaanderen a few days later.

Del Grosso not to Tour of Flanders, but Volta NXT Classic

"It didn't go badly," he said with a sense of understatement in the mixed zone. "The first time through Trieu, I was just a bit too far back, and when Visma | Lease a Bike broke away on the side, I was too far back. I thought it could come back at some point, but I didn't immediately expect it to be separated by such a large margin. The race could have been difficult at that point, but I didn't think so many riders would have already been dropped."

In the end, he got into a group with top riders like Pedersen and Küng and, from that position, rode to sixth place in his first experience with the cobbled classics. Del Grosso will not be riding the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, as he will compete in the Volta NXT Classic in South Limburg on Saturday.

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