Dylan van Baarle thrilled to see Visma's Tour de France so far: "I don’t think anyone expected that Jonas would be this good"

Dylan van Baarle had his spring classics campaign disrupted by illness and then his next big goal, the Tour de France, was disrupted by a crash and injuries suffered at the Criterium du Dauphiné. Safe to say the former Dutch champion was disappointed not to be part of the Grand Boucle, but he is surprised and happy to see how well the team has done over the opening days of the race.

“I don’t think anyone expected that Jonas would be this good. For the team it is really a victory that he and Jonas Vingegaard are doing so well right away, after such serious injuries," van Baarle said in a column for AD. The rouleur was expected to play a vital role in the flat stages and positioning for the climbs for leader Vingegaard, but thus far the team was in full control during stage 1 and perfectly delivered their leader both times up the Madonna di San Luca this past Sunday.

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With Jonas Vingegaard being able then to match the attack of Tadej Pogacar in the steep Italian climb, it looks to be a perfect start for the Dutch team whose chances of winning the race have improved significantly. Moreover, there is no pressure to attack rivals until the race enters the hardest stages of the race, later in the second week. "I think that the team will still race conservatively on Tuesday in the stage over the Galibier and that it will be a stage for the breakaway," van Baarle states. With Richard Carapaz and EF Education-EasyPost in the race lead however there may be a hard time for a break to succeed if there are threats to the race lead.

Van Baarle looks at the teammate who has replaced him, Wout van Aert, and believes the team has made the right choice when it comes to the cards it deployed into the race: “I look at Wout van Aert with admiration. Everyone saw how bad he was after his crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen. If you can survive in such a first Tour stage with the favorites and come third, that is very special.”

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