Cian Uijtdebroeks continues to move up the ranks within
BORA - hansgrohe. After a succcessful Grand Tour debut at the 2023 Vuelta a Espana, he now looks to perform at the
Giro d'Italia and this will be his main Grand Tour goal for 2024.
“I'm going for a classification. That won't be easy, because there are two time trials, but we are working on that. After my eighth place in the Vuelta a España, I now want to try to finish seventh or roughly fifth. The intention should always be to do a little better," Uijtdebroeks told Het Nieuwsblad. “But it is difficult to say now what is possible. I don't know yet who will start. As soon as that is known, I can say what I'm going for. Maybe I shouldn't say this in the press, but I want to try to aim for that top five. If I end up sixth, that's not bad of course.”
The 20-year old was the winner of the 2022 Tour de l'Avenir, his first year with BORA - hansgrohe, and he has since confirmed his potential as as a stage-racer. He has in fact been very consistent throughout all of 2023 and has been given the freedom to chase his own ambitions. Likely, this will continue to be the case in 2024. He will very likely not race the Tour de France where the team will focus on it's new star signing Primoz Roglic.
“I will only discuss my precise program with the team at the end of December, but I would like to ride the Vuelta a Catalunya again. I have seen that there are some long climbs again," he says, as a preference. Roglic won this race this spring, but as he goes for a different calendar the two aren't likely to meet there. Uijtdebroeks's exit from BORA - hansgrohe at the end of 2024 has been widely discussed and the Belgian seems to be going in that direction - but BORA will certainly still do the effort to keep one of cycling's brightest talents onboard.
He will, right before the Giro, also make his Liège-Bastogne-Liège debut. “The race certainly appeals to me. It is the one-day race that suits me best. I saw that the race is on the calendar two weeks before the Giro. In principle I would have to be on an altitude training camp, but I might be able to ride Liège as preparation. I know I won't win there, but it would be nice to ride among my fans and experience the atmosphere, but the Giro remains of course the most important thing.”
