Dylan van Baarle predicts a battle between Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel on Sunday: "Their level is really bizarrely high at the moment"
Cycling
Dylan van Baarle didn't get to race too much in recent months and years due to terrible luck with crashes. However he was able to put everything together for the spring and will be an important piece in Visma | Lease a Bike lineup. While the Dutch team lacks a clear favorite, they can play the game of numbers with multiple possible leaders.
Nevertheless, the campaign didn't start too well for Van Baarle at the E3 Saxo Classic. "It was actually very disappointing. At the most important moment I was just not in the right place. After that I just chased the facts, while I had a good feeling. But the sharpness was lacking in the end," he says on the In Koers podcast.
"I have to admit that I've never really managed to be in the right place at the crucial moment in the E3," the Dutchman continues. "You just know that if you're not there at the Taaienberg, it's difficult to play a role in the final. So it wasn't that different than usual, but I should have been at the front, that's clear. This race was a good reminder that I just have to be sharp in the other classics."
The Dwars door Vlaanderen already saw improved Visma | Lease a Bike and that included Van Baarle too. The 32-year-old did work in the shadows to ensure that the attack of his teammates would work out, first creating a gap behind his four teammates (including Edoardo Affini) as they launched their attack, and later disturbing the chase behind escapees.
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Tour of Flanders
Now the focus is on the Tour of Flanders, where Van Baarle will be at the start, together with what he sees as the two top favourites. "The favourites for the Tour of Flanders are of course Van der Poel and Pogacar. Their level is really bizarrely high at the moment. But behind them you also have Pedersen and Ganna, who could play an important role in the final."
And Wout van Aert? According to Van Baarle, he is not a top favorite this year. "As a team, we have to play our collective this year. With Matteo, Tiesj, Wout and me, we actually have four pawns who have to participate in the final, and I am certainly confident that we can do that. But top favorites? We certainly are not. Still, I will certainly not write us off, and certainly not Wout."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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