De Lie wins sprint for second place, Laporte recovers from early crash to take third
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Dylan Van Baarle wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan van Baarle takes solo victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad(Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan Van Baarle on his way to a solo victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad(Image credit: Getty Images)
A general view of the peloton passing through a Haaghoek cobblestones sector during the 78th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Jan Tratnik attacks the breakaway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite 2023(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jan Tratnik leads the breakaway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite 2023(Image credit: Getty Images)
Marco Haller leads the breakaway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite 2023(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jelle Wallays in the breakaway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite 2023(Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan Van Baarle on the Kapelmuur Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Jumbo-Visma celebrates after winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Tim Wellens attacks during Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Tim Wellens during Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan Van Baarle competes in the breakaway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan Van Baarle at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan Van Baarle celebrates at podium as race winner at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan Van Baarle and Christophe Laporte first and third at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad(Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan Van Baarle and Christophe Laporte first and third at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Arnaud De Lie in second place(Image credit: Getty Images)
Dylan van Baarle marked his debut for Jumbo-Visma with an emphatic solo victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The Dutchman powered clear in a group of four riders after the Molenberg with 38km remaining, and he then proceeded to drop his breakaway companions one by one on the remaining climbs to claim the honours in Ninove.
Like twelve months ago, the first instalment of Belgium’s Opening Weekend saw an ominous show of force from Jumbo-Visma, who were without defending champion Wout van Aert. The new arrival Van Baarle, however, proved a more than able understudy, first with the canny timing of his attack and then with the overwhelming strength that carried him to victory by some 25 seconds.
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) won the sprint for second place ahead of Van Baarle’s teammate Christophe Laporte, and the Belgian youngster was the day’s other outstanding performer, not least given his recovery from a crash with 50km to go.
Van Baarle’s superiority, however, was apparent from the moment he clipped off the front in the company of Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious), Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Dstny) and Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-Samsic). His show of the force on the cobbles at Haaghoek shortly afterwards ensured the break disappeared out of sight, and he proceeded to rid himself of his company on the climbs that followed.
“The team told me to use my instinct, and that’s what I did,” Van Baarle said. “I saw a moment. It was quite a hard section of the race, so I decided to go.”
Milan was the first rider to lose contact with Van Baarle on the smooth but steep Berendries before Vermeersch was dropped on the Vossenhol. The neo-professional Le Berre, already part of the day’s early break, caught the eye with his courageous display, but he eventually ground to a halt when the gradient bit on the penultimate ascent of the Muur van Geraardsbergen.
On the antechamber to that climb, a reduced peloton had closed from almost a minute to within 20 seconds of Van Baarle, and that encouraged Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) to rip clear on the Muur in the company of Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious).
De Lie and Laporte joined them over the top, but they couldn’t quite get to within touching distance of Van Baarle, who proceeded to make light work of the Bosberg and then stretch out his lead all over again on the approach to Ninove.
Van Baarle and five of his Jumbo-Visma teammates were making their seasonal debuts on Saturday, having spent most of February training at in seclusion atop Mount Teide rather than racing in Spain or the Middle East.
“We’ve had a great training camp,” Van Baarle said. “It’s been a long winter with a lot of training, it’s all worth it. I think the guys did an amazing job, I can’t thank them enough for this victory. I think the legs are good, so we need to make the most of it.”
How it unfolded
In keeping with recent tradition, Ghent’s Kuipke velodrome hosted the start of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad rather than Sint-Pietersplein. Regardless of the location, of course, the first race on the Belgian calendar is always an evocative affair and a symbol that winter is finally drawing to an end.
Conditions were mercifully dry, and temperatures nowhere near as low as the peloton has encountered at this race in years gone by. There was, in any case, a brisk start to proceedings, with a break featuring Jelle Wallays (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Louis Blouwe (Bingoal WB), Adam de Vos (Human Powered Health), Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Alex Colman and Gilles De Wilde (Flanders-Baloise) forging clear almost immediately.
The escapees built an early lead of eight minutes, but that gap began to contract rapidly around the midpoint of the race as Jumbo-Visma – with Edoardo Affini and Jan Tratnik especially prominent – made repeated attempts to split the peloton.
When a counter-attack of 14 riders briefly formed ahead after 100km, there were no fewer than six Jumbo-Visma men among them, Van Baarle included. The move didn’t last long, but it was a sign of things to come, with Tratnik and Nathan Van Hooydonck joining Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) in another short-lived six-man move over the cobbles at Holleweg.
By then, each climb or cobbled sector was beginning to whittle down the bunch, and a glance at the jerseys told its own story. The yellow and black of Jumbo-Visma was always prominent, while Soudal-QuickStep’s colours were often absent. The tone for the day was set.
There was drama with 50km to go when De Lie slid out on a right-hand bend and then had to stop once more to change his bike. It looked as though the Belgian’s chances had faded completely, but he gave a spirited lone chase to rejoin the bunch ahead of the Wolvenberg just as the remnants of the early break were swept up.
Van Hooydonck forced the pace on the climb for Jumbo-Visma to test the mettle of men like Tom Pidcock (Ineos) and Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën), while Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) was among those distanced. Van Baarle was clearly encouraged by what he saw. Over the other side, he sensed his opportunity and sparked what proved to be the winning attack.
Behind Van Baarle, De Lie caught the eye, first for his fightback from the crash and then for his strength in bridging up to Wellens and Mohoric over the Muur. Finally, just as that chasing group was being caught by a reduced peloton, the 21-year-old summoned up the speed to win the sprint for second place ahead of Laporte, Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) and Pidcock.
The future of these races may yet belong to De Lie. On Saturday’s evidence, however, the present is complicated by Jumbo-Visma’s collective might.
Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
