Teams & Riders Cian Uijtdebroeks - From the wetlands to the top of cycling

[AmRacer]

Yes, like the famous Belgians, Wilco Kelderman, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Yaroslav Popovich etc...

It's a mix between funny and appaling, probably best defined as "cringe", when people bring up this BS that has started to manifest in their own brains. Was De Plus heralded as the next Merckx? No. Was Van Den Broeck? Nope. Lambrecht? Van Eetvelt? Van Wilder? Even Uijtdebroeks? No they weren't. Only Evenepoel was, and the man that lit that fire... was Merckx. Then there was the teammanager of Uijtdebroeks who needed to compare his new pupil to Evenepoel. Just like the teammanager of that other famous Belgian junior, Andrew August.


Evenepoel has many thousands of pages discussing things not even remotely related to Evenepoel.

20k pages regarding his weight and many thousands discussing other not Remco related stuff.
That makes a couple of hundred pages left discussing his career.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

20k pages regarding his wright and many thousands discussing other not Remco related stuff.
That makes a couple of hundred pages left discussing his career.

Let's not forget all the pages with fools asking whether he could beat Mathieu at Amstel or Liège.

 

[AmRacer]

Let's not forget all the pages with fools asking whether he could beat Mathieu at Amstel or Liège.

When I have trouble to sleep, I read a random page where his weight is scrutinized. Any one of the 20k is good enough.

 

[Pozzovivo]

He's been quite specific about his sensations, and while he could "also" have covid, it doesn't sound like that is the reason why he has been underperforming.


That honestly sounds like reaching. Johannessen (barely) won Avenir the day before turning 22 as a 4th year U23. He is older than Evenepoel, in case people forgot. While i think he has more climbing potential than Foss, i haven't seen anything to suggest he will be better than Uijtdebroeks (who was a 1st year U23 when he won Avenir). At least as a GT GC rider.

Comparing him to Foss and Blackmore makes sense, given their age when they won Avenir.

On the surface, THJ might not seem like an extraordinary rider—unless you're familiar with his career so far. But here's what I know about his situation:

1. THJ had only been racing for three years before winning L'Avenir, and during that time, he was mostly just mountain biking on weekends with minimal training, according to the data.
2. Over the last three years, he faced significant challenges: a severe knee injury kept him out during two winters, and in the third year, he was sidelined by COVID and other illnesses.
3. This year, he showed incredible form, dominating riders like Lenny Martinez, Woods, and Gaudu at a race in "Var" (I can’t recall the exact name). Unfortunately, a tactical mistake cost him in the final, and then he injured himself, missing the rest of the season until the Ardennes, where he was decent. However, he suffered another knee injury before the Tour and didn’t ride at all during Uno-X's altitude camp. Despite this, after just three weeks of training, he was competitive in Slovenia and performed strongly in the Tour.
4. His brother, also a huge talent, hasn’t been performing due to heart surgery after 2021.
5. During this year’s Tour, THJ was as good as, if not better than, riders like Hindley, Mas, and De Plus on stage 15. He might have even been better than Carapaz, but Simon Yates created a gap before the penultimate climb. THJ closed a one-minute gap to grand tour winners and matched their strength on Plateau de Beille. It was incredible.
6. You could see similar performances last year, particularly on stage 17 up Col de la Loze, and again on stage 20. Despite spending so much energy trying to get into the breakaway, he still managed to keep pace with the GC contenders, finishing 9th in the GC group.
7. He has an insane sprint for GC guy- Pogacar level.
8. He can't time trial. Only drawback so far.

He is a mix of Alaphilippe and Adam yates. Magical beast.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

On the surface, THJ might not seem like an extraordinary rider—unless you're familiar with his career so far. But here's what I know about his situation:

1. THJ had only been racing for three years before winning L'Avenir, and during that time, he was mostly just mountain biking on weekends with minimal training, according to the data.
2. Over the last three years, he faced significant challenges: a severe knee injury kept him out during two winters, and in the third year, he was sidelined by COVID and other illnesses.
3. This year, he showed incredible form, dominating riders like Lenny Martinez, Woods, and Gaudu at a race in "Var" (I can’t recall the exact name). Unfortunately, a tactical mistake cost him in the final, and then he injured himself, missing the rest of the season until the Ardennes, where he was decent. However, he suffered another knee injury before the Tour and didn’t ride at all during Uno-X's altitude camp. Despite this, after just three weeks of training, he was competitive in Slovenia and performed strongly in the Tour.
4. His brother, also a huge talent, hasn’t been performing due to heart surgery after 2021.
5. During this year’s Tour, THJ was as good as, if not better than, riders like Hindley, Mas, and De Plus on stage 15. He might have even been better than Carapaz, but Simon Yates created a gap before the penultimate climb. THJ closed a one-minute gap to grand tour winners and matched their strength on Plateau de Beille. It was incredible.
6. You could see similar performances last year, particularly on stage 17 up Col de la Loze, and again on stage 20. Despite spending so much energy trying to get into the breakaway, he still managed to keep pace with the GC contenders, finishing 9th in the GC group.
7. He has an insane sprint for GC guy- Pogacar level.
8. He can't time trial. Only drawback so far.

He is a mix of Alaphilippe and Adam yates. Magical beast.

I know who he is, and there are other riders with similar stories, including some of the top riders like Roglic, Evenepoel and Vingegaard, who were cleaning fish, skijumping or footballing before crashing themselves into the WT with plenty of injuries slowing them down.

He was better than some riders in one stage of the TDF? Impressive. Ignoring that those riders were either far below their level or had been working for a GC leader, unlike THJ.

His sprint is far from Pogacar level. He got beaten twice by Evenepoel in Norway '22.

 

[Pozzovivo]

I know who he is, and there are other riders with similar stories, including some of the top riders like Roglic, Evenepoel and Vingegaard, who were cleaning fish, skijumping or footballing before crashing themselves into the WT with plenty of injuries slowing them down.

He was better than some riders in one stage of the TDF? Impressive. Ignoring that those riders were either far below their level or had been working for a GC leader, unlike THJ.

His sprint is far from Pogacar level. He got beaten twice by Evenepoel in Norway '22.

I guess you just have to wait and see. And he wasn't better than some riders on one day - he was clearly stronger than GC GT winners even with bad prep before tour and bad luck in the stages. He was third behind Pog and Jonas on stage 6 last year.

Evenepoel is an elite sprinter in a GC group. Killed Roglic several times.

I bet you THJ kills Cian for GC results in GT and one-weeks the next 5 years! You wanna take the bet?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I guess you just have to wait and see. And he wasn't better than some riders on one day - he was clearly stronger than GC GT winners even with bad prep before tour and bad luck in the stages. He was third behind Pog and Jonas on stage 6 last year.

Evenepoel is an elite sprinter in a GC group. Killed Roglic several times.

I bet you THJ kills Cian for GC results in GT and one-weeks the next 5 years! You wanna take the bet?

Evenepoel did beat Roglic a few times, but less than the other way around. And neither are at Pogs level.

Uijtdebroeks can't sprint or TT to save his life, so beating him in a 1 week GC shouldn't be that difficult. Beating him in a GT should prove less evident for someone like THJ.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Evenepoel did beat Roglic a few times, but less than the other way around. And neither are at Pogs level.

Uijtdebroeks can't sprint or TT to save his life, so beating him in a 1 week GC shouldn't be that difficult. Beating him in a GT should prove less evident for someone like THJ.

Cian's TT performances are better than THJ so far no? Visma setup faster than Uno-x for sure. The giro one was good. Vuleta was ok.

But having a somewhat balanced score against Roglic actually means you are elite at sprinting for a GC guy. Maybe not Pog level but we've seen little evidence of these guys sprinting each other.

Who will have the best TDF GC result the next 5 years - I take THJ you take Cian - are you taking the bet?

Unfortunately Un-X don't compete in giro or vuelta so far so we can just bet on all GT GC's.

 

[saunaking]

Uijtdebroeks says his heartrate and lungcapacity aren't maxed out at all, but his legs just feel numb and he can't push any harder.

lol sounds like every chugger I know who runs a 4 hour marathon

 

[Pozzovivo]

lol sounds like every chugger I know who runs a 4 hour marathon

No shame in a 4h marathon. Maxed me out for sure!

 

[Berniece]

lol sounds like every chugger I know who runs a 4 hour marathon

Yeah Uijtdebroeks is just like your mates running a 4h marathon

 

[stekelegel]

It’s probably a mystery to himself and the team why he is on such a downward curve. Could not do much wrong until catching COVID in the giro, can’t do anything right since. if they had any indication with his team, they would not have taken him to the Vuelta for sure.
He hasn’t got a lot going for him besides longevity in grand tours, maybe should move the career goal to become the next Kuss or Kelderman and not top 5 GT rider. Which are very good riders btw.

 

[Pozzovivo]

It’s probably a mystery to himself and the team why he is on such a downward curve. Could not do much wrong until catching COVID in the giro, can’t do anything right since. if they had any indication with his team, they would not have taken him to the Vuelta for sure.
He hasn’t got a lot going for him besides longevity in grand tours, maybe should move the career goal to become the next Kuss or Kelderman and not top 5 GT rider. Which are very good riders btw.

Extremely premature conclusion. He's 21?!

 

[Squire]

It’s probably a mystery to himself and the team why he is on such a downward curve. Could not do much wrong until catching COVID in the giro, can’t do anything right since. if they had any indication with his team, they would not have taken him to the Vuelta for sure.
He hasn’t got a lot going for him besides longevity in grand tours, maybe should move the career goal to become the next Kuss or Kelderman and not top 5 GT rider. Which are very good riders btw.

How is trying to become the next Kuss or Kelderman any different from trying to become the best grand tour rider he can be?

 

[Hugh Januss]

Extremely premature conclusion. He's 21?!

He's 21 and has already burned one team that believed in him and took a chance on his development. Perhaps going the Kelderman/Kuss route for the next couple of years might be good for his development, maybe he can even learn to accelerate in a climb.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Too limited of a rider. Diesel without top-end talent. Kruijswijk/Kelderman territory, Mas very, very best case

 

[Pozzovivo]

He's 21 and has already burned one team that believed in him and took a chance on his development. Perhaps going the Kelderman/Kuss route for the next couple of years might be good for his development, maybe he can even learn to accelerate in a climb.

One not-so-great season and we are writing him off? He's not the next Rrrremco but for sure he should set his goals high and go for GC GT podium. He seems very chipper in interviews. You can't accelerate if you are on the limit and beyond that. Did you see Pogi's spring in stage 11 this year? If he gets a bit better he will also be more aggressive and drop some good watts on attacks.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Too limited of a rider. Diesel without top-end talent. Kruijswijk/Kelderman territory, Mas very, very best case

Hold on. Don Enric is pogi level + right now. No need to compare him to the rampas inhuMAnaS!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

It’s probably a mystery to himself and the team why he is on such a downward curve. Could not do much wrong until catching COVID in the giro, can’t do anything right since. if they had any indication with his team, they would not have taken him to the Vuelta for sure.
He hasn’t got a lot going for him besides longevity in grand tours, maybe should move the career goal to become the next Kuss or Kelderman and not top 5 GT rider. Which are very good riders btw.

Problems started before the Giro. See Catalunya.

Too limited of a rider. Diesel without top-end talent. Kruijswijk/Kelderman territory, Mas very, very best case

No top end talent? Based on what? His WT GC's at the age of 20? Seems to me like a diesel with top end talent. They just need to figure out what is going wrong, and pick up where he left off last year. His climbing results last year were already far beyond what Mas, Kelderman or Kruijswijk showed at that age, and even later in their careers.

 

[Hugh Januss]

One not-so-great season and we are writing him off? He's not the next Rrrremco but for sure he should set his goals high and go for GC GT podium. He seems very chipper in interviews. You can't accelerate if you are on the limit and beyond that. Did you see Pogi's spring in stage 11 this year? If he gets a bit better he will also be more aggressive and drop some good watts on attacks.

How is suggesting that he progress in a more normal manner writing him off? Was Vingegaard the team leader in his first grand tour? Or his second? Cian could be a GT team leader today for Jayco or Israel Premier Tech or Arkea or Astana but not UAE or Visma. Not without a lot more seasoning.

 

[Keldergoat]

His climbing results last year were already far beyond what Mas, Kelderman or Kruijswijk showed at that age, and even later in their careers.

That's recensy bias talking. Kruijswijk was on the brink of winning the '16 Giro before the snow hit him, reached a Tour de France podium, Mas was second three times in the Vuelta, all through outstanding climbing performances where they both rivaled some of the very best in their times. Uijtdebroeks was, at his best in his career so far, the 8th best in the Vuelta last year.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

That's recensy bias talking. Kruijswijk was on the brink of winning the '16 Giro before the snow hit him, reached a Tour de France podium, Mas was second three times in the Vuelta, all through outstanding climbing performances where they both rivaled some of the very best in their times. Uijtdebroeks was, at his best in his career so far, the 8th best in the Vuelta last year.

They were not close at his age. And it took them many more years before they showed something beyond what he has already shown last year. No recency bias at all. In 2016 Kruijswijk was 28 years old.

 

[Keldergoat]

You state 'even later in their careers'. That's bull, period. Even Kelderman has reached way more with a podium for the Giro, a fifth place in the Tour and a fourth place in the Vuelta, let alone his absurd consistency over more than 10 years.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I just don't see world class rider in Cian at all. I see a very good rider, but with a limited skillset centered around high mountain climbing and not much else, so unless youre just flat out the best, youre not gonna win very much. Kruijswijk did that in the 2016 Giro that he should have won, and Mas has three top 2s and is looking to be the best rider this year. Not bad company, but I think Mas has more to his game than Cian since he's actually very good at shorter efforts as well in peak shape and can go mano-a-mano with Roglic (as we have seen countless of times, although never winning). Add that to an insane talent pool at the moment

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

You state 'even later in their careers'. That's bull, period. Even Kelderman has reached way more with a podium for the Giro, a fifth place in the Tour and a fourth place in the Vuelta, let alone is absurd consistency over more than 10 years.

Yes. Later in their careers. He at 20 was better than Kruijswijk was not only when he was 20, but also when he was 22 or 25. I didn't say they never at any time managed a better performance than Uijtdebroeks did at 20.

I just don't see world class rider in Cian at all. I see a very good rider, but with a limited skillset centered around high mountain climbing and not much else, so unless youre just flat out the best, youre not gonna win very much. Kruijswijk did that in the 2016 Giro that he should have won, and Mas has three top 2s and is looking to be the best rider this year. Not bad company, but I think Mas has more to his game than Cian since he's actually very good at shorter efforts as well in peak shape and can go mano-a-mano with Roglic (as we have seen countless of times, although never winning). Add that to an insane talent pool at the moment

Like i already said, Kruijswijk was 28 in 2016. I also don't think Uijtdebroeks will win a lot, but i do think he has significantly more climbing chops than Kruijswijk or Kelderman. I think you take last year's achievements for granted. Look at Del Toro now, for instance. Same age as Uijtdebroeks last year.