There is a moment in Paris-Roubaix, on a cobblestone strip about 18 kilometers from the finish, when Dylan van Baarle thinks: this is my chance. He is in a leading group of three, with his fellow refugees he is surrounded by the swirled up Northern French dust that filters the bright sunlight.
Van Baarle leads the way, the best position you can have on a road full of uneven stones the size of a football. This way you can choose your own path, you are not dependent on the rider in front of you. If something happens now, it’s your own fault. On the left of the road, Van Baarle sends into a gutter on the side and starts to stomp. Not that you can tell from him; Few riders sit on their bike as beautifully and as quietly as Van Baarle. But the stylist goes fast.
First there is a small gap, two seconds become six seconds, Matej Mohoric and Yves Lampaert seem to be able to come back. In the hectic pace of the competition it is difficult to estimate how much such a hole is worth. But when Van Baarle drives onto the smooth asphalt a few kilometers further and the clouds of dust literally and figuratively descend, it is clear: they will never see them again.
Specialist
Just before his decisive break, Van Baarle had already jumped away from a group of pursuers. Big names were included: Mathieu van der Poel, among others, Wout van Aert as well. Known classics specialists. But secretly, Van Baarle has also been a specialist in the most important one-day races for years. The tougher the match, the better he gets. He won the semi-classic Dwars door Vlaanderen last year, and was second at the World Cup that same year. Two weeks ago, behind Van der Poel, he was second in the Tour of Flanders. He has also achieved top-10 results in other editions of the Flemish classic.
The fact that he didn’t win more often had to do with his speed. Van Baarle does have a final sprint, which, according to him, is less bad after hundreds of kilometers of race than with others, but there was always someone who was faster, or had already jumped away and finished in front of him solo. That is why Van Baarle did not let it come to a hand-to-hand fight with his fellow front runners this time. In the run-up to the absolute final, he continues so fast that the difference with the pursuers is more than a minute if he only turns up the velodrome in Roubaix. Even though he still has one and a half laps to go, Van Baarle can no longer suppress a grin.
Also read: Cyclist Dylan van Baarle is ready for races, after months of training on his balcony (2020)
Biggest win
Van Baarle is the seventh Dutch winner of Paris-Roubaix, after Peter Post (1964), Jan Janssen (1967), Jan Raas (1982), Hennie Kuiper (1983), Servais Knaven (2001) and Niki Terpstra (2014). It is the biggest win in the career of the 29-year-old Dutch cyclist. He previously won a semi-classic, a mountain stage in the Criterium du Dauphiné, in 2018 he became Dutch time trial champion, but nothing comes close to this prize.
“I couldn’t believe I was alone when I turned onto the velodrome. That I won a monument is crazy”, says Van Baarle afterwards. He felt good, remained calm after having a puncture earlier in the race, and praised his team Ineos, for whom he won this monument for the very first time. “It is not only a crown on my work, but also on that of the team.”
‘Karren maar’ is the motto of Van Baarle, who likes to describe himself as a diesel. Since 2018 he was mainly a luxury assistant for classification riders of Team Sky and then Ineos, but last year he started to gather podium places. This year he continued that good line. All past week he felt that the miles were coming easy. Perhaps then the opportunity would come that he had been missing until now in his career.
That opportunity came. “Everything fell into place today,” he told NOS in Roubaix. Moments later he was allowed to lift a cobblestone, the main prize for the winner, and the Wilhelmus sounded on stage.
Correction April 17, 2022: an earlier version stated 28-year-old, Van Baarle is 29. Jan Janssen’s profit in 1967 was also not included in the list of Dutch winners.