Dylan van Baarle has had a strong classics campaign last year, winning Dwars door Vlaanderen and later in the year finishing second at the World championships. Having built on that, he's been rather absent in the classics campaign but flew yesterday to a second place on the Tour des Flandres.
INEOS came with a strong lineup to Flandres, with van Baarle having Tom Pidcock, Jhonatan Narváez and Ben Turner as strong cards to race tactical with. The Dutch rouleur is no stranger to the top-end of racing in the classics and made his move in perfect timing after the Paterberg, building a gap alongside Fred Wright which saw them in front after Tadej Pogacar's attack in the peloton over the Koppenberg.
"I was always thinking to be ahead of the race, and that they’d have to chase me. With Tom, Ben and Jhony Narvaez in the group behind, it’s always better if there is someone up the road, and they can save the legs a little bit. I just had to wait for the better guys to attack, and in this case it was Mathieu and Tadej," van Baarle added.
Although having been dropped at the Oude Kwaremont by the Pogacar and van der Poel duo, he and Madouas came back to the head of the race in the final kilometer where van Baarle managed to sprint into second place: "Vice world champion and vice runner up in Flanders. It’s not bad!"
"I wasn’t expecting anymore to sprint for the victory, that’s for sure. I was confident in the sprint after 270km – I’m not super quick but at least I don’t lose too much power. So I was confident to sprint for third place but then all of a sudden we were sprinting for the victory," van Baarle said after the finish.
"It went so fast so you had to decide really quick. In the end Mathieu was too quick," he concluded. Van Baarle will be at the start of Paris-Roubaix in two weeks where he will have another opportunity to have a career-defining win, and his consistency over the last few seasons has earned him a spot as one of the main favourites for the third monument of the year.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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"I was confident to sprint for third place but then all of a sudden we were sprinting for the victory!" 2nd at Worlds, now 2nd at #RVV22. Not too shabby @DylanvanBaarle 🥈🥈 👏👏👏
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