“I didn’t have the legs of last year” - Dylan van Baarle left disappointed by Opening Weekend form

Having taken the victory at last year’s edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, many touted Dylan van Baarle as one of the favourites for Opening Weekend. However, after a delayed start to the season with the cancellation of the Vuelta a Andalucía, he was clearly lacking the form to contest the victory at the first two Flemish Classics of the season.

Van Baarle’s Team Visma | Lease a Bike teammates Jan Tratnik and Wout van Aert both triumphed over the weekend, but the Dutchman failed to break the top-30 in either race. In an interview with AD this week he said “I wasn’t really feeling well in the race in the Omloop”.

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"

He then went on to say “it went a lot better in Kuurne, although I didn't have the legs of last year”, as he struggled to stay up towards the front of the race as it split on the early climbs.

With his next race set to be Tirreno-Adriatico before returning to the Classics in late March, Van Baarle is looking to move on quickly after a poor weekend, as he stated that “for now, just recover quickly and move on to the next races”.