28/11/2023

Dylan van Baarle confident into 2024: "I want to compete with Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel"

Dylan van Baarle thrived in 2022, having been incredibly consistent and then winning Paris-Roubaix. Joining the strongest cobbled classics team in Jumbo-Visma it was interesting to see how he'd fare, but injuries took him out of the main competitions throughout the spring.

“I don't know the exact plan for next year yet, because the team is still planning everything. But I assume that I will ride a similar season, starting with the Opening Weekend, then Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico, then the cobbled classics and then the preparation for the Tour de France," van Baarle said in conversation with GCN. “I want to go to these competitions again and try to be as good as possible."

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Van Baarle won Omloop het Nieuwsblad as Jumbo-Visma dominated the opening weekend. They won most races leading up to the monuments, however then Tadej Pogacar put the ride of a lifetime at the Tour of Flanders, and in Paris-Roubaix the team was struck by badly-timed bad luck. "I want to ride the finals of the classics with Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte. I want to compete with Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel.”

Van Baarle's plan for the season will be rather similar, ideally reaching the same form he did throughout this summer, where he helped the team to extreme success at both Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana. “I want to play a big role in the Tour team again before I go to the Olympic Games. Those are the main goals. Our goal as a team will be to win one of the Monuments." The Olympic Games surge also as a goal for the Dutchman, the route in Paris could suit him and the Dutch will have cards to play for the win.

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Van Baarle also commented on the departure of Primoz Roglic. "We have lost Primož. He won a lot of races this year. We may miss his punch on the uphill finishes, but we just have to look at ourselves and how strong Jonas was in the Tour. I think he was even better than in 2022, so we can continue that upward trend," he concludes. "Maybe he can even get close to Primož on the shorter uphill finishes.”