Dylan van Baarle had raced with Jumbo-Visma in the past, but with a completely different structure. A lot has changed since he departed, but his return could not have been any better as he immediately soared to victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
It was a classic van Baarle win, with a solo move. After an aggressive start where Jumbo-Visma was always on the front foot, it was time for the Dutchman to make an attack of his own. "Instinct. The team told me to use my instincts, so I did. I saw my moment and grabbed it with both hands," he tells after crossing the line first in Ninove.
The Dutch team attacked several times, and then began covering attacks as van Baarle went up the road with just under 40 kilometers to go. He dropped everyone who kept up with him, and then went solo off the front in the Muur de Geraardsbergen. With the roads and weather favouring a group finish, it was a brilliant performance for van Baarle to resist the moves of all of those who came from behind.
“That also fitted in with our plan to make it a tough race. I was sometimes a bit more from the back, but that doesn't matter if the rest of the guys were in front. They really did an incredible job," he describes.
"We had a very good training camp and my legs are great, so let's make the best of it," he concluded. The first day of racing in 2023, van Baarle comes into the spring with soaring form after an altitude camp. Not only him, but Christophe Laporte sprinted to third after blocking the counter-attacks, whilst the remaining team was active all day long.
It is a warning shot fired at the competition as Jumbo-Visma dominated the first big cobbled classic of the year. At Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne there will be another battle tomorrow, although this one favours more the sprinters.
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