"I feel like it's better to start somewhere relaxed" - Dylan van Baarle opted against Visma's offer of Opening Weekend start

Dylan van Baarle has suffered a lot of bad luck over recent seasons. Even in 2025, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike star has seen his hopes dashed by a crash, following a nasty incident at the Tour Down Under in January. Now back fully fit though, Van Baarle returning to racing last week, but not on Opening Weekend as may have been expected.

Rather than opt as a key cog in Team Visma | Lease a Bike's lineup for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne on Opening Weekend, the former Paris-Roubaix winner instead returned to racing in France at the Drome Classic, coming home five minutes down in 62nd having helped teammate Ben Tulett secure a podium finish. On the latest episode of his In Koers podcast, Van Baarle explained why his return was away from the hype and expectation of the Belgian classics.

"That is mainly due to my crashes," he begins honestly. "I want to get the feeling back in the peloton and have a good race. When you stand in 't Kuipke in Ghent, you know it won't be like that; you have to go at those cobblestone sections and climb with a knife between your teeth. I feel like it's better to start somewhere relaxed than immediately at full throttle."

In Van Baarle's absence on Opening Weekend, Team Visma | Lease a Bike failed to take any victories. Van Baarle isn't certain he being there would have made much of a difference. "I think it's only natural that we have the ambition to win all those races. If I had gone to the Opening Weekend, I wouldn't have known how I would have ridden there," he analyses. "It could have gone well, which would have made you go home with a good feeling. But you can also get in your way for two days because you don't feel comfortable in the peloton. Then you go to the next races with a shitty feeling."

"During an Opening Weekend, everyone is at the start with one hundred percent motivation," Van Baarle concludes. "France has no cobblestones, and being at the front is a little less chaotic. There is less pressure, and it is close to home so I go there by car."