Dylan van Baarle proved that he has the skills to become a contender for the cobbled classics when he finished third in Dwars door Vlaanderen. He received some criticism from Michal Kwiatkowski for not chasing behind eventual winner Jelle Wallays but he refused the criticism.

“I beat the world champion in the sprint but I’m third. I hoped for more but I can be pleased with this result," Van Baarle told Cyclingnews. "I didn’t expect the late attack. Then I gambled on Kwiatkowski. Sadly enough, he also gambled that I would close it down. He looked at me and then Jelle was gone.

"He’s the world champion and wants to show his jersey. I want to win here too. Early on I was impressed by the presence of the world champion but later I just wanted to win the race. Theuns and Kwiatkowski aren’t slow but I didn’t know how fast I was.

“I’m gunning for the spring classics in the future. This was the shortest of all the classics. I’m hoping to move up the ladder. I’m leading the team together with Sebastian Langeveld. Today I was lucky enough to be in the decisive move. I’ve got the future, he’s got the experience.”

"Today was a successful day for the team," Cannondale sports director Andreas Klier said. "The guys displayed strong teamwork all day long. It was a fast start with a hard side wind for the first 50km. Our leader, Sebastian, crashed out at the start of the Taaienberg, around 55km to go.

"Dylan bridged up with the World Champion to the two leaders, so for the last 50km they raced against a chasing group of around 10 people, with never more than a minute. Dylan earned a well-deserved 3rd place, he did a great ride, and the teamwork the guys showed today was very impressive."