Dylan van Baarle sacrificed himself in the final, but couldn't bring back Remco Evenepoel: "I just had to ride flat out until Mathieu could go again"

The Netherlands had to make do with a twelfth place for Mathieu van der Poel at the Olympic road race in Paris. Dylan van Baarle sacrificed himself in the final for his leader, but was unable to keep Remco Evenepoel on a leash short enough for Van der Poel to jump across to the Belgian.

Regardless, Van Baarle will carry on mostly nice memories of the time spent in Paris. "It’s super special when you start at the Eiffel Tower and there are so many people at the course in the morning," the Dutchman explains at NOS afterwards. "It was also a really gruelling race. So yes, you have to let this sink in for a while."

In the end, the race did not go the way of the orange shirts. How was that possible? "When Mathieu attacked for the first time on the Montmartre, I tried to pick up my own pace a bit and get back with the group. At the moment that Remco went, I just got back. Then I knew that I just had to ride flat out until Mathieu could go again. Why did it not go our way? You can't always throw a six."

In the end it was Remco Evenepoel who took the win after an impressive solo. The Belgian was unstoppable. "Exactly," confirms Van Baarle. "There were three of us. Daan did a great job at the beginning. Then you notice that you may just be missing that guy to alternate a bit when I have been in the lead."

"Of course I would have liked to stay with Mathieu until the end, but I had to switch very quickly. I thought: if that group rides too far ahead, Mathieu won't have a chance at all. So yes, I was good, not super, but all in all I'm satisfied," he concludes.