Backs to the wall for Visma as Dylan van Baarle becomes a doubt for Tour of Flanders

The bad luck continues for Visma-Lease a Bike with the breaking news that Dylan van Baarle would miss Wednesday’s edition of Dwars door Vlaanderen through illness and that his participation in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders was also in jeopardy.

The Dutch team have been hit by a series of injuries, illnesses and crashes which has seen the squad go from complete domination at Opening Weekend to underdogs for both Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

“It’s not Covid with Dylan but at this time of the year, these things can happen. We’ve had some bad luck with a lot of crashes and sickness but it’s more important to focus on the riders who are there,” sports director Merijn Zeeman told GCN on Tuesday morning after Van Baarle’s situation was announced.

Wout van Aert crashed in the E3 Saxo Classic but came back to finish third, though bad luck has beset almost all of the team’s main Classics riders with Jan Tratnik, Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot all crashing or falling sick in recent weeks. Van Aert remains the team’s leader for Dwars door Vlaanderen and the next round of Spring Classics at Flanders and Roubaix but the air of invincibility that was displayed at Opening Weekend back in February has been washed away.

Read more: Wout van Aert without Christophe Laporte for the Tour of Flanders

“It’s also clear that our leader, Wout, is doing very well. [Matteo] Jorgensen is in very good shape. Tiesj Benoot and Jan Tratnik will be very good on Sunday, so we still have real quality riders in the line-up. You need to accept that sometimes, especially in this period, sickness and crashes happen. All the teams need to handle that, and that counts for us,” Zeeman added.

A return to health for Van Baarle ahead of Flanders would be a huge boost for the Dutch team but his absence, along with Laporte’s, has opened up the door for other riders to shine.

Julien Vermote will take Van Baarle’s spot on Wednesday, while brothers Tim and Mick van Dijke have been handed more responsibility.

“It’s very difficult to say and it’s something that we need to see over the coming days,” Zeeman said of Van Baarle’s Flanders chances.

“Of course, it would be better to have all these guys healthy and on the start, so we have to adjust a bit but like I said, we still have quality riders in the team and we’re still a very strong team and take initiative. That doesn’t change, and one other positive is that last Sunday we could see Tim van Dijke, a young talent, he took his chance and was with the best on the Kemmelberg. Youngsters can now step up and take their chances, and that’s also sport. I was very pleased to see him race like that in Gent-Wevelgem and it shows that we have depth. These guys now get their chances.”

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