A healthy Van Baarle would have definitely raced the Opening Weekend, but after two years of setbacks, he deliberately chose to skip it.
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Follow us on GoogleDylan van Baarle is back! The Dutch rider of Visma | Lease a Bike broke his collarbone in the Tour Down Under in January and was sidelined for six weeks. After using a roller and doing a training period, he ended up in France on Sunday for the Faun Drome Classic, where teammate Ben Tulett finished third. In the In Koers podcast, Van Baarle reflected on his rehabilitation before his comeback.
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Van Baarle, who has monthly chats with good friend Astana rider Wout Poels and AD journalist Marijn Abbenhuijs, had difficulty realizing he was out again. The list of injuries in 2023 and 2024 had become quite long for the now 32-year-old rider. The misery began in 2023 at Paris-Roubaix with a broken hand and shoulder blade. In 2024, he broke his collarbone in the Dauphiné (which caused him to miss the Tour de France), and he broke his hip on day two of the Vuelta.
With that in mind, 2025 was approached with optimism. Van Baarle went to South Africa with his girlfriend Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and then opted for an Australian campaign. However, that ended on day one of the Tour Down Under, again due to a broken collarbone. "I'm annoyed that I haven't been able to put my disastrous year behind me and that I've unfortunately started the year with a lot of bad luck," he said in the previous edition of In Koers.
Read more below the photo.
Van Baarle (right) on the ground at the Tour Down Under
Van Baarle deliberately skipped Opening Weekend
After his injury, missing out on the Tour de France selection of Visma | Lease a Bike was another setback, so we might say that Van Baarle has had his fair share of bad luck and setbacks. "Things are going well now. The training sessions are progressing as they should, so I'm pleased. My collarbone has stopped bothering me and sprinting, and things like that are also going well. I, therefore, spoke to the team, and we decided that I could (now can, ed.) race in the Ardeche again."
Why did Van Baarle choose the Faun Drome Classic and not a (perhaps smaller) role in the Opening Weekend? "That is mainly due to my crashes. I want to get the feeling back in the peloton and have a good race. When you stand in 't Kuipke in Ghent, you know it won't be like that; you have to go at those cobblestone sections and climb with a knife between your teeth. I feel like it's better to start somewhere relaxed than immediately at full throttle."
Read more below the photo.
Van Baarle was on the rollers earlier showing (right) his blue collarbone.
Van Baarle thinks Visma | Lease a Bike should start anywhere with winning in mind
Riding along in a Belgian cobblestone classic in a Visma | Lease a Bike shirt will not happen in 2025. "I think it's only natural that we have the ambition to win all those races. If I had gone to the Opening Weekend, I wouldn't have known how I would have ridden there. It could have gone well, which would have made you go home with a good feeling. But you can also get in your way for two days because you don't feel comfortable in the peloton. Then you go to the next races with a shitty feeling."
In France, Visma | Lease a Bike did not line up at the start on Sunday to win, and they did not win. Tulett did finish third, but winner Juan Ayuso (UAE) and runner-up Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) were clearly out of his league. "During an Opening Weekend, everyone is at the start with one hundred percent motivation. France has no cobblestones, and being at the front is a little less chaotic. There is less pressure, and it is close to home so I go there by car."
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Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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Latest Comments
- I’m still learning the calendar: is cyclocross mainly preparation for the spring classics, or does he race it as a separate goal as well? I’d love to see him back in the mud.jeremya04-11-2026
- The article makes it sound as if Roubaix is the only classic where he has a realistic shot. He’s been close in Flanders too, and one good tactical day can change everything.jennifer1904-11-2026
- Milan-Sanremo and Roubaix is a pretty special pair of Monuments. Any clues yet on which cyclocross races he’ll target?andrewf04-11-2026
- He’s right to be realistic about Flanders with Pogačar and Evenepoel around, but you can’t count Van Aert out on those roads. If he gets the right opportunity, he has the engine and experience to take it.davidm04-11-2026
- That Roubaix win felt like such a release after all the near-misses. Brilliant to hear that joy outweighed relief for Wout.patriciaw04-11-2026
- Why would a mountain time trial be different from a normal one? Is it just that the riders have to climb the whole course?samanthak03-11-2026
- I don’t quite buy the “fear of failure” argument. Riders can race the Giro and still have confidence in July; it comes down to recovery and planning, doesn’t it?patriciaw03-11-2026
- The Giro-Tour double is a massive ask, even for the very best. Pogačar made it look almost routine in 2024, but that’s hardly a sensible benchmark for everyone else!pedalpowe2903-11-2026
- Bakelants makes a fair point: if the 2027 Tour really suits Remco, he can’t afford to dilute the build-up. That 37km flat TT will be tempting, mind.julien03-11-2026
- Mont Blanc sounds like a spectacular finish, though four climbs on the final day might be a bit much after eight hard stages. Hope the route details are clear soon.raceready703-11-2026