"A matter of improvisation. And the legs": A tactical Visma | Lease a Bike move that paid off in Dwars door Vlaanderen

With 75 kilometers to go, Visma | Lease a Bike took the lead decisively in the run-up to Berg ten Houte. The young Norwegian Per Strand Hagenes gave it his all, and it was up to Edoardo Affini to provide the final lead-out. Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, and Matteo Jorgenson followed swiftly, but behind them... a gap opened up.

A gap that would remain for the rest of the race. Van Baarle dropped back, suddenly putting all the other favorites in an awkward position. "The plan was to be in front at that point before Berg ten Houte and to keep going. The fact that the other guys rode away from there was more a matter of improvisation. And the legs," Van Baarle explained afterward to IDLProCycling.com.

His three teammates rode ten, twenty, thirty, and so on seconds behind, partly due to the work of Van Baarle and three EF Education-EasyPost riders holding off the eventual winner, Neilson Powless. "From that moment on, I tried to respond to the other men, such as Stefan Küng and Mads Pedersen, for as long as possible," Van Baarle explained his task in the last two hours of the race.

The fact that Benoot and Jorgenson pulled the Van Aert card resolutely at the front was a bit mean to dish out to him afterward. "I heard little to nothing. I'll have to watch it back first," was the response from the former Dwars door Vlaanderen winner after the final in which Powless managed to outsmart the leader Visma | Lease a Bike in the final few meters.

"We need to focus on the positive," Van Baarle emphasizes. "We didn't perform as expected in the Opening Weekend and the E3 Saxo Classic. Things went a bit better in Gent-Wevelgem, so I think we should build on that. I also feel better than last Friday, so I hope this will continue. Things are improving with every race, so hopefully, that will continue in the Tour of Flanders."

One week after they returned to Belgium from the Teide, we also saw what Van Aert and Benoot were capable of doing in the hilly part of Dwars door Vlaanderen. "The response to altitude training is different for everyone. I'm often good immediately, but other guys need more time."