Talented Belgian rider Cian Uijtdebroeks is aiming for a top-five finish at the 2024 Giro d’Italia after finishing an impressive eighth on his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España.
Speaking at a reception in his home town of Hannut, the 20-year-old former Tour de l’Avenir winner played down the rumours of a move away from Bora-Hansgrohe after 2024, insisting he is concentrating on his racing goals.
Uijtdebroeks was keen to emphasise that the late addition of Primoz Roglič to the 2024 Bora-Hansgrohe squad would enable him to learn from the experience of the Slovenian star. He also wants to have his own chance to shine, suggesting one possible role for him at the Giro d'Italia could be as co-leader.
That was the same strategy adopted by Bora-Hansgrohe at this year’s Vuelta, he pointed out, where he and Aleksandr Vlasov had joint GC responsibilities - and finished the race with Vlasov in seventh and Uijtdebroeks in eighth.
With two time trials in the 2024 Giro d’Italia next May, Uijtdebroeks accepted that both he and the team needed to work on their time trialling. He said he stood by his sharply-worded comments concerning the squad’s time trial bikes used in the late-season Chrono des Nations.
“We have a lot of work to do,” he told Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure. “We have to work a lot on my position but also on my body, so I can gain a higher level of flexibility.
"Recently,” he added with a laugh, “I’ve learned about exercises that I didn’t even know existed.”
"I’ve also talked with a lot of specialists in time trialling for advice, most notably Remco [Evenepoel-Soudal-QuickStep]. We’ve got quite a few details to improve.”
Bora-Hangrohe had not been happy about the amount of attention Uijtdebroeks' comments at the Chrono des Nations had received.
“All I did was say what I thought, the material wasn’t in order that day," he insisted.
"As a rider, I try to be the best possible and that should be the case of the bikes as well.”
Despite some tension with Bora-Hansgrohe, a contract that ends in 2024 and interest from a host of major teams including, Uijtdebroeks played down any chances of him breaking open his contract and switching to a new team for 2024.
He flatly rejected, for example, the idea that he might have contemplated signing for Groupama-FDJ, saying he had "no idea where that story had come from."
Regarding 2025, though, “I’m leaving all the doors open,” he told La Dernière Heure.
“I’m still under contract but I know there are other teams. The cleverest option is to talk with everybody and see what the others can offer. Listening is never a bad thing to do. And once I have all the cards in hand, we’ll see what is best for me in 2025.”
Regarding his 2024 season, Uijtdebroeks expressed a keen desire to race the Volta a Catalunya next spring, given the week-long race would feature both the multiple summit finishes at over 2,000 metres and the long climbs that he liked.
Rides in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Giro d’Italia were also amongst his season goals, too.
His detailed programme had yet to be decided for 2024, although he knew one thing already about the upcoming year: he would not be training over the winter in Belgium.
“In a few days, I’m heading to Spain, and then until I start racing, I’ll switch between Spain and Belgium. We’ve also got team training camps.”
“My goal is to race the Giro d’Italia next year, although we’ll only decide on a specific programme at the end of December. Amstel would be tough to do but Liège is possible. It’s the same old question as usual: is it better to go to altitude two weeks before the Giro or is it better to use La Doyenne as preparation?”
“Personally I’d like to go to Liège this year, it’s the Belgian race that suits me the best and I’d like to discover its ambience. We’ll see how it fits into my preparation for the Giro.”
Already eighth in the 2023 Vuelta, the 20-year-old said he would like to build on that in the Giro “with a top ten placing on GC, or maybe a top five.”
A precise objective was difficult to give without knowing the depth of the GC field, he said, although the inclusion of climbs as tough as the Stelvio on the 2023 Giro route acted as a natural boost to his ambitions.
“On climbs like that,” he said, “you can be sure of opening up a gap.”
