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

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Only several weeks after the fraud had pissed on the contract and lit it on fire. There was no going back from that, no honour.

Does piss generally burn well?

 

[Netserk]

On the topic of criticism of an athlete in pro sports, it sort of comes with the territory. It's a competitive field. Uijtdebroeks isn't competitive so kaboom, he gets criticized. I wouldn't read too much into it. It's just the way sport is (& it's reflective of how a lot of people consume sport, i.e. pitting athletes against each other).

He's hardly the only one either. Arnaud De Lie gets criticized as well, ditto riders like Fabio Jakobsen (who's been labelled a fraud and worse by quite a few for a couple of years now).

Rightly or wrongly, no amount of people saying "please don't criticize this athlete" will change anything either.

It's nothing compared to what Froome has received of comments over the years, heck he still gets a lot of hate long after he has been irrelevant.

Any update to this thread stopped being relevant 2 years ago, that seems clear.

Yes, but he was lying about basically everything since September of 2011. Nothing changed after his accident. He's a complete fraud.

Nothing changed in terms of him lying. It’s his defining trait.

Obviously his performances have changed dramatically.

He is a shameless embarrassment for the sport. He should have quit years ago. I have a suspicion this is money laundering.

 

[Netserk]

Does piss generally burn well?

Wet paper will burn if you use enough fire.

 

[Red Rick]

Does anyone know the official age cutoff at which people are allowed to be criticized on internet sites they very likely don't read anyway? And would there be any particular reason this age limit should be at least 5 years higher than the age which one is allowed to vote, drink, drive a car, join the military, and be charged as an adult for any crimes committed?

It's basically a Newtonian law of the internet at this point that any over the top defense of any individual will eventually lead to over the top backlash. Blobloblo got portrayed as extremely victimized just to force his way out of a team in a way I haven't really seen in cycling, so when he then proceeds to perform woefully for the next season and a half ofcourse there's gonna be comments on that.

And while I also don't think he's just laughing his way to the bank, and he's struggling a lot mentally in this position, I also don't see why I should feel super sorry for him considering there's no shortage of people with similar problems without the 6 figure salary and all the built in support systems that come with that.

 

[Berniece]

Does anyone know the official age cutoff at which people are allowed to be criticized on internet sites they very likely don't read anyway? And would there be any particular reason this age limit should be at least 5 years higher than the age which one is allowed to vote, drink, drive a car, join the military, and be charged as an adult for any crimes committed?

It's basically a Newtonian law of the internet at this point that any over the top defense of any individual will eventually lead to over the top backlash. Blobloblo got portrayed as extremely victimized just to force his way out of a team in a way I haven't really seen in cycling, so when he then proceeds to perform woefully for the next season and a half ofcourse there's gonna be comments on that.

And while I also don't think he's just laughing his way to the bank, and he's struggling a lot mentally in this position, I also don't see why I should feel super sorry for him considering there's no shortage of people with similar problems without the 6 figure salary and all the built in support systems that come with that.

Maybe it’s not about Uijtdebroeks but people acting like ***?

 

[hrotha]

Why would he stay if he doesn’t feel accepted in the team? Not even sure why people support the corporation instead of the employee here.

Because it's not Uijtdebroeks vs The Corporation, it's The Corporation vs This Other, Bigger Corporation which convinced Uijtdebroeks to get out of his contract through shady shenanigans

 

[theyoungest]

And while I also don't think he's just laughing his way to the bank, and he's struggling a lot mentally in this position, I also don't see why I should feel super sorry for him considering there's no shortage of people with similar problems without the 6 figure salary and all the built in support systems that come with that.

Nobody is saying he has it as hard as, say, someone working in a sweatshop in Bangladesh. But that kind of argument is always rather pointless.

Also, there may have been a persistent image of Uijtdebroeks as the victim, but certainly equally as forceful was the image of the spoiled brat. As always, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

 

[Red Rick]

Also, there may have been a persistent image of Uijtdebroeks as the victim, but certainly equally as forceful was the image of the spoiled brat. As always, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

In this regard I think actions speak louder than words and forcing your way out of a team while you have a valid contract is 100% a brat move.

 

[Samamba]

He is unable to fulfil his contract, so the team should end it without paying him.

Unfortunately, there's no minor country in the EU with some BS law that allows the team to do that afaik, but by the UCI rules the team can cut his salary in half by the end of July?

So you're admitting it's dumb cause they literally can't do it without paying him? And yes technically but Uijtdebroecks could also just say hey let me ride a race... and the team can't refuse it or they would be the culprit in this case.

For teams there's no real ways to get out of it. You signed him, you're stuck with him. Unless the rider himself wants to get out too, which is what teams try to force sometimes. For example Lotto with Ewan, but riders aren't dumb. Lotto had to pay part of his salary at Jayco the year after.

The problem is that it should be that way around to for (talented) riders, but it isn't. They can just hire an agent who plays dirty games and threatens to break their contract for a fee their rich next team can just pay. Or you know that dirty agent just calls up some journalist with a made up story that makes the team look bad so they can get out of it cheaper then they initially could.

 

[noob]

Unless there has been a change, his agent is Alex Carera.

Thanks! That explains a lot.

But in this case the perception really seems to be quite far removed from the actual personality of this guy. Maybe because a lot is lost in translation, I don't know, but Anglophone fans mainly seem to see him as a whiny little b.tch who will try to get out of his contract if he doesn't get exactly what he wants. I think if you regard him as someone slightly on the spectrum who was maybe stuck on a team with people not that sensitive to that kind of personality you would be closer to the truth.

Either way, I don't think any of that has to do with his current performance, which is just abysmal, and to me it has the characteristics of someone with the iliac artery problem that you see so often in cyclists: when the going really gets tough they just don't have that extra gear anymore. It wouldn't surprise me if eventually that is what it turns out to be, and the back problems or whatever he has are just compensation pain.

The way I had to look at only one interview to understand enough. He has the (dork) look/air of "every bullied kid". Like the epitome of every kid who - both on screen and reality - will be bullied. The sheer sight or sound of such a person will irritate or irk people.

Better word; archetype.

 

[CyclistAbi]

The thing is it seems that Visma has broken Cian, hence there is some level of responsibility involved, to fix him too.