{"id":808353,"date":"2026-03-06T17:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/808353\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:35:12","slug":"he-and-pogacar-are-not-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/808353\/","title":{"rendered":"He and Pogacar are not human"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<br \/>\nSeason begins at Strade BiancheThe young rider from Alpecin-Premier Tech completed a training camp after the end of the muddy season and believes he arrives on the white roads of Tuscany ready to see where his legs really stand. \u201cThe training camp went well, but those road races always seem to arrive very quickly,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nieuwsblad.be\/sport\/wielrennen\/wegwielrennen\/van-der-poel-is-zo-goed-dat-ik-er-niet-veel-van-kan-leren-tibor-del-grosso-aan-de-vooravond-van-zijn-tweede-wegseizoen-zonder-monumenten\/138908809.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Del Grosso told Het Nieuwsblad.<\/a>\u201cI\u2019m still not entirely sure if I\u2019ve fully recovered from all the training. I think I\u2019ll need the <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclinguptodate.com\/strade-bianche\" title=\"Strade Bianche\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Strade Bianche<\/a> and the Tirreno-Adriatico to really reach my best level,\u201d he explained, avoiding any exaggerated expectations ahead of the start of his road campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Strade Bianche is a demanding race shaped by gravel sectors and a series of punchy climbs, a course profile that often suits the strongest climbers. With several major names on the start list, Tibor del Grosso approaches the race cautiously. \u201cThere are external expectations around Strade,\u201d he added, \u201cbut there\u2019s a reason why Mathieu van der Poel won\u2019t be there on Saturday. Strade has really become a climbing race. That says enough about the ambition I can have there. Saturday is not a goal for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In my mind, there is no \u2018new Van der Poel.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old Dutch rider is frequently compared to his compatriot Mathieu van der Poel. During the 2025 spring classics, Del Grosso produced an excellent performance at Dwars door Vlaanderen, finishing sixth, a result that naturally invited comparisons with the former world champion.<\/p>\n<p>Del Grosso understands why people look for a connection, but he does not believe in the comparison himself. \u201cMathieu is a very relaxed guy, and it\u2019s fun to race with him and laugh together,\u201d he said. \u201cBut he\u2019s so good that I can\u2019t really learn much from him. When I saw him attack 100 kilometres from the finish at the Renewi Tour last year, it didn\u2019t seem very smart to think: I should do that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even when his abilities are described in similar terms, he continues to dismiss that narrative. \u201cI understand what people mean, and in a way, the comparison with Mathieu is a compliment. But many people seem to forget just how exceptional he is. He and Pogacar are not human; they are aliens. In my mind, there is no \u2018new Van der Poel\u2019,\u201d Del Grosso concluded.<\/p>\n<p>With a very high-level start list on Saturday and with the Tirreno-Adriatico getting underway next Monday, we will have to wait a little longer to see the best version of Del Grosso.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; Season begins at Strade BiancheThe young rider from Alpecin-Premier Tech completed a training camp after the end&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4104],"tags":[223291,4230,10102,79,189602,189972,16,15],"class_list":["post-808353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-alpecin-premier-tech","tag-cycling","tag-mathieu-van-der-poel","tag-sports","tag-strade-bianche","tag-tibor-del-grosso","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116183441462630069","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}