Junior and amateur career 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 , 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. , where he won three different 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.
Garmin–Sharp (2014–2017) Following a three-year stint with the , Van Baarle signed with , 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 until the end of 2017, Van Baarle was unable to defend his
Tour of Britain title, finishing the race in eighth place overall. , where he finished fifth overall – his third successive top-ten finish at the race 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 remaining of the stage; he did, however, win the
combativity award for the stage.
Team Sky (2018–2022) Out of contract at the end of the 2017 season, Van Baarle was initially announced as extending with until the end of 2019, but with the team's uncertain future at the time due to financial issues, Van Baarle ultimately joined on an initial two-year deal from 2018.
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.
2019–2020 Taking aim at the Classics with a new coach, Van Baarle started his 2019 season in Australia, which culminated in him winning the general classification at the
Herald Sun Tour, having gained more than two minutes to his main rivals on the penultimate stage. However, he crashed at
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and suffered a broken hand, which ruled him out for almost a month and impacted his preparation for the
Tour of Flanders and
Paris–Roubaix. Van Baarle took his first victory at
UCI World Tour level, winning the final stage of the
Critérium du Dauphiné in
Champéry, defeating
Jack Haig in a two-up sprint. He was unable to defend his
Dutch National Time Trial Championships title, finishing third behind
Jos van Emden and
Sebastian Langeveld, before riding as a
domestique for team leader
Egan Bernal, as the latter won the team's fifth consecutive
Tour de France. He later signed a three-year contract extension with the team, until the end of the 2022 season. Prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic-enforced suspension of racing in 2020, Van Baarle took a pair of fifth-place finishes in his opening block of racing in Australia, at the
Tour Down Under and the
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. Towards the end of the season, Van Baarle took another top-ten finish at the
Tour of Flanders with eighth place, before riding the
Vuelta a España, where he featured in two stage breakaways and finished fourth in the latter of these, on stage fourteen.
2021 Van Baarle finished in the first chase group at both the
E3 Saxo Bank Classic and
Gent–Wevelgem, finishing the races in seventh and eighth respectively. He followed this up with his first one-day classics victory, when he won
Dwars door Vlaanderen from a solo move, having attacked out of a seven-rider lead group. He was seen to be an outsider for the
Tour of Flanders, and he finished as the highest-placed rider from the in tenth position. He featured in breakaways on three stages at the
Tour de France and also on stage ten at the
Vuelta a España, finishing fourth in Spain; he later fractured his pelvis in a crash, and ultimately withdrew from the race. He was part of the Dutch team for the
road race at the
UCI Road World Championships in Belgium, where it was thought he would be a key domestique for team leader
Mathieu van der Poel. However, it was Van Baarle that placed highest, winning the silver medal from a group sprint of four riders, behind solo winner
Julian Alaphilippe. before taking his first podium finish in a
cycling monument, with a second-place result at the
Tour of Flanders. Van Baarle had attacked with
Fred Wright at approximately remaining, before being joined by
Mathieu van der Poel,
Tadej Pogačar and
Valentin Madouas on the final ascent of the
Taaienberg. After an attack by Van der Poel and Pogačar on the last climb of the
Oude Kwaremont, Van Baarle and Madouas were able to catch up to the pair in the closing kilometres, but Van der Poel was able to win the sprint finish in
Oudenaarde. Raising the tempo on
Camphin-en-Pévèle, Van Baarle made his race-winning solo move on
Carrefour de l'Arbre, ultimately winning the race by almost two minutes, the first Dutch win at the race since
2014.
Team Jumbo–Visma (2023–2025) 2023 Van Baarle joined for the 2023 season, having signed a three-year contract with the team. In his first race with the team, Van Baarle won
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad; having gone clear in a group of four riders with remaining, he dropped his breakaway companions one-by-one and ultimately won by 20 seconds in
Ninove. He was unable to retain his
Paris–Roubaix title, as he crashed out of the race on the
Trouée d'Arenberg, and suffered multiple fractures. After returning to racing at the
Critérium du Dauphiné, Van Baarle later assisted Van der Poel to his victory in the
road race at the
UCI Road World Championships in Scotland, on a course that he described as a "glorified
criterium". He was also part of
Grand Tour overall wins by
Jonas Vingegaard at the
Tour de France and
Sepp Kuss at the
Vuelta a España. and did not return to racing until June's
Critérium du Dauphiné, where he then crashed out of the race on stage five, fracturing his collarbone as a result. After missing a further two months of racing, Van Baarle raced the
Vuelta a España and withdrew from the race on stage two after a crash – fracturing his hip – and ultimately ending his season.
2025 Van Baarle started his 2025 season at the
Tour Down Under, where he crashed during the final phase of the first stage and did not finish. He later rode the
Giro d'Italia, finishing 95th overall while riding in support of teammate
Simon Yates, who won the race. In June, he finished second to
Daan Hoole at the
Dutch National Time Trial Championships, beaten by 20 seconds in Surhuisterveen. Van Baarle also competed in the
Vuelta a España, finishing 130th overall while riding in support of teammate
Jonas Vingegaard, who won the race. In August, it was announced that Van Baarle would leave Team Visma | Lease a Bike at the end of the season to join , signing a contract through 2027.
Soudal–Quick-Step (2026–present) 2026 Van Baarle made his and season debut at the
Volta ao Algarve in February. He finished tenth on the final stage to Alto do Malhão and placed 26th overall in the general classification. ==Personal life==