Dylan van Baarle

Dylan van Baarle (born 21 May 1992) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam Soudal–Quick-Step.

Specialising in classic cycle races, Van Baarle has taken eight wins during his professional career – including victories at the 2021 Dwars door Vlaanderen, 2022 Paris–Roubaix and the 2023 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. He has also won the 2018 Dutch National Time Trial Championships and the 2023 Dutch National Road Race Championships, and won the silver medal in the road race at the 2021 UCI Road World Championships in Belgium.

Born in Voorburg, Van Baarle won a stage of the 2009 Trofeo Karlsberg on his way to finishing second overall, and he also finished second in the junior race at the Dutch National Time Trial Championships. The following year, he finished third overall at the Driedaagse van Axel. Ageing out of juniors for the 2011 season, Van Baarle joined the Rabobank Continental Team, and was part of the team that won the team time trial stage at that year's Vuelta Ciclista a León. He took his first individual victory with the team at the 2012 Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux, where he won the stage 2a individual time trial. Over the next couple of months, Van Baarle won the Arno Wallaard Memorial, before winning the opening prologue stage of the Olympia's Tour in Zandvoort. He ultimately won the race overall, having regained the race lead on the penultimate day when he finished second to Rohan Dennis in a second individual time trial stage; he also won the points and young rider classifications.

He started the 2013 season with two one-day race victories on successive weekends at the Ster van Zwolle (from a small group) and the Dorpenomloop Rucphen in a solo move. He then finished third overall at the Tour de Normandie, before a fourth-place finish at the Tour de Bretagne. During that race, Van Baarle won the penultimate stage individual time trial, as well as three individual jerseys – for the mountains, sprints and combination classifications. He became the first rider to win successive editions of the Olympia's Tour since Servais Knaven in 1992 and 1993, winning the fourth stage on his way to the general classification victory. He then won the under-23 titles at both the Dutch National Time Trial Championships and the Dutch National Road Race Championships, either side of his overall victory at the Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23. He finished third at the Internationale Wielertrofee Jong Maar Moedig, before placing seventh in the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Italy, finishing as part of a small group that sprinted for the bronze medal.

Following a three-year stint with the Rabobank Development Team, Van Baarle signed with Garmin–Sharp, initially for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In his first race with the team in 2014, he finished tenth at the Dubai Tour. After a sixth-place finish at the Ster ZLM Toer, Van Baarle took his first professional victory later in the season at the Tour of Britain; he gained the yellow jersey on the seventh stage, and successfully defended the jersey across the two stages on the final day. The following year, Van Baarle took a third-place finish at Dwars door Vlaanderen, having been part of a four-rider lead group that formed in the final third of the race. He finished fifth overall at the Bayern Rundfahrt, also winning the young rider classification in the process, before he made his début at the Tour de France. Having signed a two-year contract extension with Cannondale–Garmin until the end of 2017, Van Baarle was unable to defend his Tour of Britain title, finishing the race in eighth place overall.

Starting his 2016 season at the Vuelta a Mallorca one-day races, Van Baarle recorded a fifth-place finish in the Trofeo Pollença–Port de Andratx, finishing as part of the front group. He finished in sixth place at the Tour of Flanders, having joined the lead group after an attack on the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. Another fifth-place finish followed at the Tour of Britain, recording five top-ten stage finishes during the race. In the 2017 classics, Van Baarle finished in the top ten at both Dwars door Vlaanderen (eighth) and E3 Harelbeke (ninth), ahead of the Tour of Flanders. At the Tour of Flanders, Van Baarle was part of the lead group behind solo winner Philippe Gilbert, but was out-sprinted by both Greg Van Avermaet and Niki Terpstra as he finished off the podium in fourth place. He featured in the breakaway during the seventh stage of the Tour de France, but was caught with 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) remaining of the stage; he did, however, win the combativity award for the stage.

Out of contract at the end of the 2017 season, Van Baarle was initially announced as extending with Cannondale–Drapac until the end of 2019, but with the team's uncertain future at the time due to financial issues, Van Baarle ultimately joined Team Sky on an initial two-year deal from 2018.

He took his first victory for the team when he won the Dutch National Time Trial Championships in June, finishing 30 seconds clear of the next closest competitor in Bergen op Zoom. He placed tenth in the time trial at the UEC European Road Championships in Glasgow, and also finished fifth overall at the BinckBank Tour. He made his début at the Vuelta a España, where he finished second from the breakaway on stage twelve, but was involved in a crash with a member of the race organisation post-stage, which ultimately forced his withdrawal from the race a few days later.