Jumbo-Visma pulls Van Baarle from Dwars door Vlaanderen squad as precaution

Jumbo-Visma will leave Dylan van Baarle on the sidelines Wednesday, leaving him out of the seven-rider roster for Dwars door Vlaanderen after a crash last week in the E3 Saxo Classic. The team plans to give him extra rest ahead of Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

“The injuries are not too bad. Dylan is even fully training again, but our absolute goal is to win the Tour of Flanders on Sunday,” Grischa Niermann, Jumbo-Visma sports director, said in a report Tuesday by AD.nl.

The 30-year-old started this season, his debut year with the Dutch team, by taking a victory in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, winning solo by 20 seconds ahead of the bunch sprint, where teammate Christophe Laporte finished third behind Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny). It is the first year of a three-year contract for Van Baarle with Jumbo-Visma. He rode the last five seasons with Ineos Grenadiers, capping that time in 2022 by finishing second at Tour of Flanders then winning the Paris-Roubaix title.

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But since Omloop in February, Van Baarle has been forced to abandon races due to crashes. First it was on the sixth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico with one day to go for teammate Primož Roglič to secure the overall, saying on social media “nothing too serious but rest is needed”. He then crashed out of E3 Saxo Classic with less than 50km to go, that race victory taken by teammate Wout van Aert.

Van Baarle will now leave Wednesday's work to capable teammates Laporte and Tiesj Benoot.

“Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot are our outspoken leaders in Dwars door Vlaanderen. With Olav Kooij we have the perfect man when it comes to a sprint with a select group,” added Niermann on plans for Wednesday.

Laporte comes off his victory at Gent-Wevelgem while Benoot has two podiums that include a victory at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne and third at Strade Bianche. The 21-year-old Kooij won a stage at Paris-Nice and finished second a week ago at Classic Brugge-De Panne. The balance of the squad at Dwars door Vlaanderen will be filled by Timo Roosen, Tosh Van der Sande, Tim van Dijke and Edoardo Affini.

Van Baarle captured the 2021 Dwars door Vlaanderen title, while last year in Waregem it was Benoot who was part of the final breakaway group headed to the finish last year and he finished second to Mathieu van der Poel.

Both Van Baarle and Benoot are in the lineup to support Van Aert at Tour of Flanders, as well as Affini, Laporte, Van der Sande and Nathan van Hooydonck.