I would prefer to see Van Baarle play to his strengths as a rouleur and classics rider. Being used solely as a Knees/Kiriyenka style domestique would be a waste of his abilities.Roku said:Van Baarle is a very good rider. He has good endurance (he tends to be quite good for a non climber in 3rd weeks of a GT) and is good on short and not too long climbs.
That said, I would find surprising if he reached a Kiryienka level. Also i find surprising he climbed better than Sivakov or Howson today. Regarding climbing abilities i rate him like Knees type in his heydays.
I suspect that Van Baarle is simply in better form than Sivakov and Howson. Van Baarle will be targeting the classics while Sivakov and Howson don't need to be at their best until the main stage races start.