Now a two-time under-23 cyclocross world champion, Tibor Del Grosso is aiming to 'get to the top' of both the road and cyclocross disciplines and will open his WorldTour career at Paris-Nice next month.
The 21-year-old Alpecin-Deceuninck rider took his first two .2-level wins last season at the Gran Premio New York City one-day race and prologue of the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt, also finishing runner-up in the SD WORX BW Classic.
A dominant cyclo-cross season has seen Del Grosso win every under-23 event he entered and the elite Dutch National Championship.
With a growing reputation, Del Grosso is tempering his expectations and being realistic about the level he can reach heading into 2025, without putting excessive pressure on himself for the road season.
"I find expectations difficult. I just hope to become the best version of myself," he said. "Whether I can get to the top on the road and the cross, the future will tell that now. But that is certainly my ambition. To someday run to the top of the elite.
"My 'cross season is over, so I’ll take some rest and build up towards the road season and hopefully have some fun and develop.
“I’m not sure if I have specific races [to target]. I just hope to maybe do well in some of the smaller races and then be there to help the team in the bigger races. I start in Paris-Nice, that will be a tough first race, it will just be learning and I hope to add something to the team."
Del Grosso is aiming to be the latest multi-discipline star on the Alpecin-Deceuninck roster, following in the footsteps of Mathieu van der Poel.
"The road calendar may get a bit of priority," added Del Grosso. "As soon as the cross season starts, I always go for that with the full 100%. That will remain.
"I also think it's just fantastic to combine them both. In winter I'm looking forward to the road season and summer towards 'cross.
"That's the perfect combination for me."
Del Grosso won his second U23 men's Cyclo-cross World Championship title in Liévin on Saturday, riding clear from his opponents on the first lap and pulling a winning gap out of 56 seconds.
After also winning the under-23 World Cup overall and European Championships he was the firm favourite heading to France, with the expectation of a nation on his shoulders.
"It's always positive, and when you are somewhat in the spotlight, then you're probably doing something right," he said.
"Hopefully. I can take that with me. The pressure was also there last year [at Worlds]. And I felt this every race.
"So that's where I just express myself. Of course, it keeps up when you have so much fun. Then that attention is also added.
"I'd rather be a favourite on a course like this, then you have to hit the favourite. So that's all fine with me."
Del Grosso was firmly in control in Liévin and showed composure to keep adding to his advantage through the technical sections of the course. With a mixture of short steep banks, technical sections and rideable grassland, the Dutchman was able to show off his array of talents.
"It was the perfect race for me," Del Grosso added.
"I have to say that I was more nervous before the start than before a normal World Cup. But I think I'm almost on the perfect course. So I had it under control.
"I had never raced here before. So that was a surprise when we went here. But I was very pleasantly surprised. I think it’s the nicest World Championships course I've ridden so far. It was just challenging and also very honest."
Still only 21, Del Grosso also revealed that he plans to continue competing in the under-23 category next 'cross season, despite holding the elite Dutch national title.
