420 watts - Cian Uitjdebroeks reveals impressive FTP, but can these watts take him to the Tour de France Top10?

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.

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.

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.