Dylan van Baarle in support role of Visma | Lease a Bike's Omloop success: "I never saw it coming that me and Jan would eventually come back"

This year's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad quickly turned into Visma | Lease a Bike against the rest of the world and the Dutch formation was dictating the pace of this battle. In a full on race from the first kilometers, Dylan van Baarle witnessed his teammates control the race with his friend Jan Tratnik eventually riding away for a well-deserved victory.

"We had the plan to start early, which everyone succeeded. Except me, I just had to let go on the side. I couldn't go along at that moment." And so his race seemed half over, he confides to In de Leiderstrui. "From that moment on we tried to get into a good situation, but I never saw it coming that me and Jan would eventually come back," he is honest. "I didn't think about winning. I didn't have the feeling I had last year, but that can happen."

Meanwhile, teammates Jorgenson, Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte were already part of a leading group of six, which seemed to be fighting for victory for a long time. "I didn't get everything, but I heard on the radio that things went as we had hoped. That's the great thing about our team: if I, or Benoot, aren't having a good day, other men step up. Now it is Jan and Wout comes third."

"We are happy for everyone, especially Jan. It was his birthday yesterday, so this is a nice gift," said Van Baarle. "We had all seen it for weeks that he was in excellent condition. He is a very relaxed guy who works professionally. I often train with him when we are at home and he is a great guy to have around. And incredibly strong, so versatile."