Visma-Lease a Bike wants to get the best possible tour rider from Cian Uijtdebroeks. This means that he must also be able to perform against the clock. Shortly after he signed on December 1, the team started working with him. “The first thing we did was analyze all the time trials he had already completed,” says performance manager Mathieu Heijboer. “Then you look beyond the results and also study the abilities he rode. Delving deeper into certain segments of those time trials and what feedback he had.”
Step two was to put Uijtdebroeks on his new time trial bike. “His position at Bora was not that bad. We continued with that and made slight adjustments here and there. In December we took him to the Alkmaar slopes for the first time for testing. There we looked at how we could get him on the bike as aerodynamically as possible as quickly as possible.”
Strength and flexibility
The analyzes quickly showed where Uijtdebroeks can make the biggest gains in the short term. That is not in terms of materials or aerodynamics. “Cian is naturally a slender and stiff athlete. As a climber that’s fine, but as a time trial rider you have to be able to make yourself as small as possible and still deliver a lot of power in such a position. That was a difficult exercise for Cian. Becoming stronger and more stable is where the biggest margin of progression lies for him. By strengthening his core strength, he can deliver more power on a time trial bike.”
Once his position was secured and Uijtdebroeks could spend time daily on flexibility and strength exercises, step three came: training on his time trial bike as much as possible. “By clocking more training hours in his time trial position, he will become better accustomed to it and he will also ride it more powerfully.”
For the chrono stage from Foligno to Perugia, Uijtdebroeks gets an extra weapon. The team had a custom-made time trial handlebar developed that should provide extra profit. “We tried to get his hands as close to his face as possible. Such an adapted time trial handlebar quickly saves 3 to 5 watts and it is of course also good for Cian’s morale,” says Heijboer.
Before the Tirreno-Adriatico, Uijtdebroeks explored the time trial with sports director Maarten Wynants. The first 30 km from Foligno to Perugia are almost flat. The riders then have to overcome another 400 meters of elevation with a climb in several slides. The first part of just over a kilometer is tough with a gradient of more than 10 percent. Then the steepness gradually decreases. The last two kilometers to the finish increase the distance by three percent. “After a long stretch, almost straight ahead, there is a steep climb,” says Uijtdebroeks. “That plays into my hands. I will have to pace well until there to make some difference uphill.”
Heijboer is not going to Italy. He reports for the second time trial, but he draws up the pacing plan for Uijtdebroeks from the Sierra Nevada. “As soon as the steep climb comes, you get a different time trial. The climb is too short to focus everything on. You can’t take it easy for forty minutes and then get everything right on that climb in about twelve minutes.”
They briefly considered a bike change at Visma-Lease a Bike, but in the end Uijtdebroeks will simply complete the 40 km on his time trial bike. “It is not necessary to change bikes,” says Heijboer. “Only the beginning of the climb is particularly steep. After that it goes more smoothly and then you have more advantage on a time trial bike.”
Because Uijtdebroeks is currently wearing the white jersey, he must wear a time trial suit from the race organizer. He cannot therefore rely on his custom-made time trial suit. Sports director Maarten Wynants sees an advantage in this. “All those suits are of an excellent level these days. It will be an extra boost for Cian that he can start in a leader’s jersey.”
Important indicator
Wynants ventures a conservative prognosis. “Pogacar is at a different level, Thomas is also a better time trialist, but in principle he will also have to allow time compared to direct competitors such as Arensman and Tiberi. If he can limit the loss to those boys to a minute, then we will sign up for that.”
In any case, the time trial is an important indicator for Uijtdebroeks. The team can use the data from this time trial to further fine-tune. “Continue to do his exercises and train on his bike,” says Heijboer. “That will remain the plan in the coming months. We may not make a new evaluation until the winter. We need to slow Cian down sooner. If you let him do it, he gets up at 6am every day and goes until 8pm. We look at the long-term picture with him. He is not expected to win a Grand Tour this year. We want to build with him and hopefully he can one day compete for final victory.”
