Cyclo-cross World Championships: Shirin van Anrooij and Tibor Del Grosso bring home mixed team relay win for the Netherlands

Tibor Del Grosso roared home alone to claim the first victory on offer of the 2026 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in the mixed relay for the Netherlands.

Third in the same event last year, this time on a dry but very slippery course at Hulst, the host nation's last rider crossed the line 16 seconds ahead of lone chaser Italy.

The battle for bronze went down to a prolonged three-way battle, with Niels Vandeputte coming out on top for Belgium as he finally dropped Great Britain's Oscar Amey into fourth with France in fifth.

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After leading early on, then letting their rivals move ahead in the middle part of the course, the Netherlands then bounced back with a vengeance as Shirin van Anrooij overtook Italy's Giorgia Pellizotti on the fifth lap of six, before Del Grosso then kept the favourites in the top spot all the way to the line.

"It means a lot to me, we came to win and we did everything we could, a real good team effort with the whole team, and it's really cool to win on home soil," Del Grosso said afterwards.

"Of course I'm very happy, it's incredible to win my first race of my first World Championships," added his 16-year-old teammate, Isis Versluis, who made a major contribution early on to the race against Italy's elite women's rider, Sara Casasola.

"The first part was a bit technical, and I injured my finger a bit, but I hope I'll be ok."

"It's quite a logistical challenge, but all the staff did a great job," Del Grosso said, "It's our power that we have such good more and such good chemistry in the team."

How it unfolded

With a record total of 13 countries taking part in the opening event of the 2026 World Championships, the Netherlands made an early lead on lap 1, thanks to their U23 men's rider Delano Heeren, and with only Italian men's junior Stefano Viezzi able to come anywhere close.

The second lap saw Italy and the Netherlands continue to lead, with their respective men's U23 and men's junior riders taking over. It wasn't until lap three, however, when Italy gained the top spot at the mid-way point through top elite women's racer, Casasola, but she faced a stern challenge from Dutch junior Versluis.

A fast-recovering France to move into second, eight seconds back, with the Netherlands briefly dropping to third at 14 seconds and the USA at 20 seconds. But the gaps were very small at the head of the race, allowing fifth-place Slovakia to make some rapid gains, too as the race deepened on a dry day.

The Netherlands were far from saying their last word, though, saving their heavy artillery in the form of Van Anrooij and Del Grosso, who both lit things up in style for the home nation for the last two laps. Van Anrooij closed in on Italian junior Giorgia Pellizotti and opened up the gap on the power sections.

Meanwhile, Great Britain, first boosted by repeat National Champion Cameron Mason, had made a similar late surge to move into third, with Junior Zoe Roche notably riding the hurdles to try keep the Belgians at bay, only for France to come back into the three-way battle for bronze as well.

Del Grosso really opened up the throttle for Italy on the last lap, although an advantage of nine seconds meant it was still a fairly close call. He did skid briefly on one corner, but managed to keep things under control and impressively rode all the way up the hardest bank without dismounting, finally coming home with more than enough time for a series of elaborate salutes.

Italy, meanwhile, maintained a strong second place all the way to the line through Filippo Fontana, whilst Belgium's Vandeputte dropped the tenacious but flagging U23 British men's rider, Amey, to net the bronze.

Results