Dylan van Baarle wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as Jumbo-Visma dominate

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is the opening test of the season for the cobbled classics specialists, and Jumbo-Visma have entered it in flying form as Dylan van Baarle took a dominant win.

The race started out with a breakaway of seven riders going up the road. Jelle Wallays (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar Team), Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Louis Blouwer (Bingoal WB), Adam de Vos (Human Powered Health), Gilles de Wilde and Alex Kolman (Team Flandres - Baloise).

The group had a lead of over 5 minutes with over 105 kilometers as Jumbo-Visma surprised early and caused a split, a group of 14 riders that went off the front of the peloton, 6 of them from the Dutch team. Later 6 of those attacked: Jan Tratnik, Nathan van Hooydonck, Fred Wright, Marco Haller, Connor Swift and Kelland O'Brien who set off in pursuit of the breakaway as the rest was caught by the peloton, the sixtet was then caught with 65 to go.

The attack didn't stop however, with riders frequently accelerating. Dylan van Baarle had a strong move alongside Florian Vermeersch inside the last 40 kilometers, with the Dutchman dropping the rest and only being followed by Le Berre from the original breakaway, into the flat roads that came before the Muur.

The gap was not closed significantly in the run-up however with a massive performance from van Baarle, who powered up the Muur and kept the lead. Tim Wellens and Matej Mohoric powered up the climb and got a gap early on with more damage than expected. Christophe Laporte and Arnaud de Lie bridged across. Over the Bosberg no attacks took place, with the chasing group 15 seconds behind and the peloton 45 behind.

The gaps began to drop in the run-up to Ninove where the headwind favoured the bigger groups. However the Dutchman had a massive amount of power still remaining and with Laporte in the chasing group the gaps stabilized. The Jumbo-Visma rider comfortably crossed the line solo on his debut.

The chasing group was caught already in sight of the line, but nevertheless the fastest were Arnaud De Lie and Christophe Laporte who completed the podium.