The Dutch rider came across the line 26 seconds ahead of the chasing group led to the line by Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) and Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix).
It was a fast edition, covering 184km in less than four hours in temperatures more suited to midsummer than late March. The heat withered pre-race favourites Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep).
But Van Baarle, who chased behind the leaders in the E3 Saxo Bank and Gent-Wevelgem Classics, opted to push his chips early and go away solo. The chasing group featured Classics favourites like Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën) and powerhouses Victor Campenaerts (Qhubeka-Assos) and Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange) but even working together they could not being the flying Dutchman back.
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