Father Florian Schmidt told De Volkskrant how the family hit a rough patch when his own bike shops went bankrupt. Debt restructuring, living on about a thousand euros a month, and yet: continuing to invest in that one dream. "Driving from Eelde to Belgium cost 250 euros in fuel every time."
And sometimes it went beyond just saving money: according to his father, Del Grosso even had to forgo prize money, simply because otherwise he couldn't make ends meet. Schmidt compares their situation to the "glamorous image" you sometimes see of cyclocross families.
"Back then, there was a reality show about the Nys family. They were millionaires, with campers and fancy stuff. We were poor wretches with our dented Volkswagen Touran. It shaped Tibor."
That sentence resonates because it sums it all up: the contrast, the frustration, but also the pride. The story of someone who learns to survive on little and becomes tougher for it.
"He gets by on little," and that's reflected in the present.
Schmidt says that those years didn't make Del Grosso bitter, but rather independent. No whining, no drama, just doing what's necessary. "He gets by on little. I never heard a harsh word from him."
Seeing him sprint against someone like Van Aert now and seeming unfazed fits perfectly into this image: someone who learned early on that nothing comes easy.
A difficult, unruly son, even at home.
At the same time, this isn't a saint's tale. Schmidt is remarkably honest about his character: Del Grosso could be unruly, and not everything that was "obligatory" was logical to him.
"I sometimes struggled with my son. He can be unruly. Sometimes I made him do things. Running, getting a job. But he didn't want that."
You sense that typical tension between parent and talent here: you want structure, he wants freedom. And somewhere, it also sounds like that stubbornness could later be exactly the weapon you need on the field.
Living with others, because things weren't working out at home
The story becomes even more raw when Schmidt tells us that Del Grosso even lived with another family for a while, because there were too many clashes at home and his father lived in a squat and couldn't take him in. It's a detail you don't often hear about a top talent: not just competing athletically, but also simply finding a place to live.
Why Visma didn't take him, and why that might be just the thing for him
Del Grosso had a reputation early on in the cycling world for being "difficult." National coach Gerben de Knegt reportedly tried to convince Team Visma | Lease a Bike. But nothing concrete ever came of it.
His father thinks he knows why: he wasn't an "ideal son-in-law." "Maybe they didn't see Tibor as the ideal son-in-law. He's not a yes-man."
And that aligns with the image that's increasingly emerging now that he's beating big names: Del Grosso isn't a project to be polished into a model pro. He seems more like someone who needs to be given space, because playing on the cyclocross track is part of his engine.
'Then you're cutting the soul out of Tibor'
Also interesting: according to the father, there was an option to sign with DSM, but they mainly wanted to push him towards the road. That felt like a wrong turn for the family.
"We could have signed a contract with DSM, but they wanted to make him a road racer. That's cutting the soul out of Tibor. He's made his mark in cyclocross. He really needs that playing."
And that sentence resonates even more now, because Del Grosso is showing that he can also win against the pros on the cyclocross track. Not as a side hustle, but as a serious force.
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