Tibor del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck) secured a stunning victory in the elite men's race at the Dutch Cyclocross Championships in Oisterwijk on Sunday, claiming both the elite and under-23 titles in the combined event.
The 21-year-old, and reigning under-23 cyclocross World Champion, battled for the coveted elite national title on the last lap against rivals Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Glowi Lions) and Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley Racing), and came out on top.
How it unfolded
The elite men lined up for their race upon the completion of the elite women's event won by Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck).
There was no outright favourite for the elite men's race as reigning World Champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was absent. Van der Poel had already withdrawn from the X20 Trofee Ball-GP Sven Nys, X2O Trofee Koksijde and the World Cup in Dendermonde events due to the rib injury he sustained after Christmas, and as the Dutch Nationals were not on his original schedule, he did not opt for a last-minute change of plan.
Van der Poel's teammate Del Grosso nonetheless took the reins early in the elite men's championships event, followed quickly by Nieuwenhuis in the opening lap. Ronhaar, Van der Haar and Corne van Kessel soon reconnected to form a lead group of five.
Van der Haar was the first to surge but Nieuwenhuis and Ronhaar caught and passed him and he was soon distanced with del Grosso. Van Kessel had fallen off the pace entirely.
With his Baloise Glowi Lions teammate up ahead, Van der Haar refused to help Del Grosso, which meant that the young rider had to close the gap to the leaders on his own.
Distancing Van der Haar in the process, Del Grosso made it back up to Nieuwenhuis and Ronhaar on the fifth lap and the trio appeared to be the strongest in the battle for the title during the closing laps.
Ronhaar surged and gained several seconds on Del Grosso as Nieuwenhuis struggled to regain contact. Del Grosso clawed himself back onto Ronhaar's wheel and then attacked in the last metres of the circuit to claim the elite title.
He finished the race seven seconds ahead of runner-up Ronhaar and 31 seconds ahead of third-placed Nieuwenhuis.
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