The Dutch rider launched an attack with 38 km remaining and didn’t look back. He was alone on the last two cobbled climbs while his team-mate Christophe Laporte disrupted the chasing quartet’s efforts.
“I don’t know what to say,” Van Baarle said after the race. “Our plan was to make it a hard race and the guys rode incredibly.”
“Instinct,” he went on to explain the timing of his attack. “The team told me to use my instinct and that’s what I did. I saw a moment, it was quite a hard section of the race, so I decided to go.”
The Paris-Roubaix winner joined Jumbo-Visma from Ineos Grenadiers at the start of this season. What a way to start in a new team!
Arnaud de Lie (Lotto Dstny) was the fastest in the bunch sprint to claim second place. Van Baarle’s teammate Laporte took the final podium spot.
Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel were both absent from the race. The famous rivals plan to start their road seasons at Strade Bianche next weekend. Can’t wait for that already.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 results (GHENT TO NINOVE – 207.3 KM)
1. Dylan van Baarle (Jumbo-Visma), in 4-55-15
2. Arnaud de Lie (Lotto Dstny) + 20 seconds
3. Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) + 20 seconds
4. Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) + 20 seconds
5. Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) + 20 seconds
6. Davide Ballerini (Soudal Quick-Step) + 20 seconds
7. Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 20 seconds
8. Andrea Pasqualon (Bahrain Victorious) + 20 seconds
9. Rui Oliviera (UAE Team Emirates) + 20 seconds
10. Sep Vanmarcke (Israel-Premier Tech) + 20 seconds