Less than a week till the third grand tour of the year begins in the Portuguese capital: the Vuelta a Espana. Visma | Lease a Bike will send Wout van Aert to the three-week stage race, as well as two GC racers, Cian Uijtdebroeks and defending champion Sepp Kuss. How will the two compare in terms of performance?
Sporting director Grischa Niermann spoke with Sporza about Uijtdebroeks’ possibilities before the race. Cian will have a free role. We hope to ride in the top ten alongside him. He demonstrated his ability to do so last year with an eighth-place finish,” he added, making a minor observation. “Should Sepp suddenly find himself in the lead, it could well be that Cian will play a helper’s role.” For the time being, Uijtdebroeks was unable to realize the benefits of 2024.
In an excellent position, he had to abandon the Giro with Corona; in the Tour of Switzerland, things did not go as planned, and he was involved in a crash in Burgos.Cian is highly motivated and will have a successful Vuelta.
ch pressure on him,” Niermann said.
Uijtdebroeks fall has no consequences heading into Vuelta
The fall in Burgos has no drastic consequences. “Cian was involved in the massive crash just like Sepp Kuss. He certainly suffered from his injuries, but not to the extent that he suddenly became a question mark for the Vuelta. Days afterward, he confirmed that he was on track in his preparation for the Vuelta.”
Kuss eventually won the Tour of Burgos and moved directly to Clasica San Sebastian but failed to win. On Saturday, the American will start the Tour of Spain as the main rider of the Dutch team, where he will have Uijtdebroeks at his side uphill.
Be the first to comment