Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023: Van Baarle solos to victory

foto: Cor VosDylan van Baarle accelerates with 40 kilometres remaining. The Dutchman drops the only riders who are able to follow one after the other. At the foot of the Muur van Geraardsbergen the Dutchman is alone and he solos to victory. Arnaud De Lie outsprints Christophe Laporte for second place. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 2023 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

1. Dylan van Baarle (nld)
2. Arnaud De Lie (bel) + 0.20
3. Christophe Laporte (fra) s.t.
4. Alexander Kristoff (nor) s.t.
5. Tom Pidcock (gbr) s.t.
6. Davide Ballerini (ita) s.t.
7. Nils Pollitt ((ger) s.t.
8. Andrea Pasqualon (ita) s.t.
9. Rui Oliveira (por) s.t.
10. Sep Vanmarcke (bel) s.t.

Race report
The breakaway takes shape in the first 10 kilometres. Louis Blouwe, Alex Colman, Gilles De Wilde, Jelle Wallays, Adam de Vos, Mathis Le Berre and Mathias Norsgaard put 8 minutes into the peloton.

Jumbo-Visma attacks just before entering the hilly zone. The entire team, except Affini, is on board in a group of 14 men: Benoot, Laporte, Tratnik, Van Baarle, Van Dijke, Van Hooydonck, Wright, Haller, Sheffield, Swift, O’Brien, Hoole, Ackermann and De Lie.

Van Hooydonck, Tratnik, Haller, O’Brien, Swift and Wright push on together before the peloton regroups with 65 kilometres to go. Meanwhile the lead of the attackers has come down to 1.30 minutes.

Wallays, Norsgaard and Le Berre distance their companions on the cobbles of the Jagerij. The front of the peloton overhauls the three just after the Molenberg. Some 20 riders distance the main group before Van Baarle gives it another go. Le Berre, Vermeersch (Florian) and Milan go with him, while Stuyven and Geniets try to bridge across. The two are tracked down themselves by Frison, Tratnik, Van Moer, Eekhoff and Oliveira (Rui). To no avail, as moments later the peloton also comes across.

Van Baarle sets the pace at the front, which is too much for Jonathan Milan. Vermeersch can’t follow either with 28 kilometres to go and the remaining two leaders tackle the Muur van Geraardsbergen with a 25 seconds lead. This inspires Van Baarle to go solo. Wellens accelerates in the peloton with Mohoric in his wheel. De Lie and Laporte latch on in the run-up to the Bosberg.

Van Baarle reaches the summit of the last ‘helling’ with a lead of 15 seconds, which he doubles on the flat.

The Dutchman forges on to take his first win for his new team in his first race of 2023. The four chasers are caught just before the finish, but still, De Lie outguns Laporte in the sprint for second place.

Other interesting reads: route and start list 2023 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.