420 watts - Cian Uitjdebroeks reveals impressive FTP, but can these watts take him to the Tour de France Top10?
Cycling
The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is, at the end of the day, still the most common test for GC riders ahead of the Tour de France. Cian Uijtdebroeks was one of the climbers who put himself in the fight for the overall classification this past week and has come out with quite an interesting outcome - and an FTP reveal.
A 420-watt FTP for Uijtdebroeks
Uijtdebroeks rode to ninth on the day, ascending to seventh in the overall classification, benefiting from Paul Seixas' withdrawal from the race. It wasn't his best performance of the week, as in the previous stage he was fifth on the summit of the Grand Colombier.
“The final climb was very explosive, especially at the start. I noticed that I was still missing that punch. We have not worked on that yet, so it was to be expected," the Belgian told Sporza at the end of the stage. The summit finish to Plateau de Solaison proved to be an immense test to the GC men, but a brutal effort as the climb was ridden to the max since the base.
Uijtdebroeks was hanging on to the Isaac del Toro-Matteo Jorgenson group, but understood only a few kilometers in that it was not something he could sustain.
“I quickly realized that I had to drop back to my threshold, which is around 420 watts," he revealed. According to ProCyclingStats, his weight is of 68Kg. If accurate, it shows an FTP of 6.17W/Kg.
Read also
Only positive signs for the Movistar leader?
It was a strong performance, but in the current peloton, these are numbers that keep him in the fight for a secondary position. But pacing and tactics matter, and the Belgian was able to finish within 30 seconds of Mattias Skjelmose, and had over 6:30 minutes to spare in order to keep a position in the Top10.
“Raul (García Pierna, who had been in the breakaway, ed.) did a fantastic job, and together with Tuckwell we kept a good pace and stayed close to the group in front of us. I gave everything I had.” At the end of the stage, the Belgian finished the stage with the yellow jersey Luke Tuckwell and Matteo Jorgenson.
Ultimately, a very positive outcome, as he says that he still has work to improve towards the Tour. “I did not expect to be this good already because I have not trained my explosiveness yet and I have been ill".
Under the radar, the Movistar rider is seemingly in the best possible position into the Tour. After departing Visma, he has found an environment at Movistar where he is the sole leader for the Tour, and not only has he returned to his best level, but has shown the consistency that he had a few years back.
The 2026 Tour will start off with a team time trial in Barcelona, a discipline where the team has been thriving this year. The individual time trial is one of his weak points, but the route only features a hilly 26-kilometer long effort, and that is in the third week of the race.
Hence, Uijtdebroeks is going into the Tour as a clear Top10 contender, and as a rider who may well finish in it if he remains consistent. Movistar should back him up whilst prioritizing stage wins, whilst he looks to be building up perfectly into the race.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- What kind of sauce is on that rice? Ketchup?Kbd05-11-2026
- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
Loading
2 Comments