The signing of Primoz Roglic by Bora-hansgrohe marks a significant achievement for the German racing team. Nevertheless, there is keen anticipation surrounding the future of Belgian climbing prodigy Cian Uijtdebroeks following the arrival of the Slovenian rider. At just 20 years old and with an impressive eighth-place finish in this year's Vuelta, Uijtdebroeks is widely regarded as one of the most promising prospects for future Tours. The big question now is: How long will he remain a part of the Bora-hansgrohe team?
Already in the final week of the Tour of Spain, there were quite obvious disagreements between Uijtdebroeks and the nominal Vuelta captain of Bora - hansgrohe, Aleksandr Vlasov. And now the Belgian has once again been critical, or at least strongly demanding, of his team to "Het Nieuwsblad" after Sunday's Chrono des Nations in France.
"I come here to learn. Then it would be nice if my wheels were in order," Uijtdebroeks explained after the 45-kilometer time trial classic in Les Herbiers, which European champion Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) won by 13 seconds over world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and in which Uijtdebroeks finished only 14th, 4:07 minutes behind.
"After ten kilometers my gearshift came loose and I was immediately allowed to change the wheel. Then it turned out that the spare wheel was absolutely not in order. Then you can go as fast as you want, it's not cool," said Uijtdebroeks after the race.
UIJTDEBROEKS: POWER THERE, AERODYNAMICS NOT
The 20-year-old wants to race for the overall classification at the Tour of Italy in May, where two individual time trials with a combined length of 68.2 kilometers will be on the agenda. Accordingly, the time trial machine will become important for Uijtdebroeks in the coming months - and it is here that he obviously still sees an extreme amount of potential for improvement, which is why he was particularly unhappy about what happened.
"It's something we really need to improve," Uijtdebroeks said. "Especially with the aerodynamics and the design of the bike itself, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Again, with my 65 kilograms, I'm pedaling close to 400 watts on average over an hour. But the overall package needs to be refined. We simply lose too much. We'll have two time trials at the Giro, so we really don't have any time to lose now. We need to spend a lot of time in the wind tunnel and on the track this winter to finally find a reasonably good position."
While riders like Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso would have a CdA value of 1.5, Uijtdebroeks said his is between 1.9 and 2.0. The CdA value is an aerodynamic coefficient - the lower it is, the more aerodynamic a rider is in the particular position measured. "That's how I lose minutes. Planning for the winter is still pending, but it seems obvious to me that work is waiting for the team. It would be stupid if they didn't," Uijtdebroek called for intensive work in the wind tunnel as well.
UIJTDEBROEKS AND THE FUTURE: "ANALYZING THINGS CAREFULLY".
At just 20 years old, this is the second time after the Vuelta that the Belgian has made critical public statements about what is happening in the team. In addition, the Roglic transfer does not make the fight for the leading role in grand tours any easier in the coming years. Will Uijtdebroeks rise to the challenge and try to learn from Roglic in the coming year or two, or are the signs pointing to goodbye for the youngster, who is still tied to Bora-hansgrohe until the end of 2024?
"At this point, I'm not overly preoccupied with it. Historically, I've been fortunate to follow a well-structured program that has allowed me to make substantial strides, and I attribute a significant portion of that success to the team's support," he initially expressed diplomatically. However, he later added a more pointed perspective, stating, "We need to conduct a thorough analysis: What will it require to be genuinely competitive in the Grand Tours in the future? After that evaluation, we will determine whether Bora can provide the necessary support. If not, I'll explore opportunities with other teams."
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