Cian Uijtdebroeks is already learning the art of time-trialing from Jonas Vingegaard and his coach: "That is a project that will take several years"

Cian Uijtdebroeks is a rider who has struggled in time-trialing despite believing he has great physical abilities for it. Joining Team Visma | Lease a Bike was a move thinking about this evolution - which is currently absolutely vital in Grand Tours - and the Belgian is already learning and developing the craft with Jonas Vingegaard.

"Yes, I feel better about myself. Every training day that goes perfectly makes me happy. If I have improved one percent, then I will be a happy Cian," Uijtdebroeks told Het Nieuwsblad. "The material also has a very high quality label, something that was not always the case with BORA. We all have two bicycles: An aero model and a climbing bike. Changing bikes for certain races takes some getting used to. I spend most of my time on the aero bike and I feel more stable on it and I have no back problems. It also feels very fast, but I still have to test that in competitions. When I rode the time trial bike for the first time, I immediately noticed that it is certainly not slow. I don't have to worry about materials. I have lost that stress and that is a luxury. So I only have to focus on training and resting."

Against the clock is where Uijtdebroeks needs to evolve the most. Last season he has lost minutes throughout the Vuelta a España, and in the future where he looks to battle the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic, it is essential to evolve against the clock. "That is a project that will take several years. I now regularly ride my time trial bike and we are still looking for the best position, one in which I can best express my power," he tells. This is already an ongoing project that began right after his signing in early December. 

He saw how Sepp Kuss rode against the clock in Spain, and thinks he can evolve the same way, and has received advice from his new teammate Jonas Vingegaard: "To achieve the ideal posture, I work on my flexibility for the first time with exercises. This will make it easier for me to adopt a certain position on the time trial bike. Only when we have found the best setting do we start fine-tuning in the wind tunnel. I already talked to Vingegaard about the effect of the flexibility exercises for time trial. Regardless of how Kuss took steps in that time trial, I will follow that as an example."

The Belgian is currently working with Jonas Vingegaard's coach, Tim Heemskerk, as well: "He knows what I need. With his knowledge I should be able to slowly improve step by step. Although for the time being Tim has to emphasize that I take enough rest. I always like to be busy, but recovery is just as important. 'Have good rest Cian' is what Tim says most often. But I'm less attached to a coach. Everyone works together and all ideas are bundled."

He will team up with Vingegaard in his debut with the Dutch team at Gran Camiño, and then follow a build-up path towards the Giro d'Italia where he will look to contest for the overall classification. "That's kind of the concept of the team. Just like me, they want to get the most out of every training and match. Merijn Zeeman is my regular race coach. He also scouted me, so to speak. He already knows me inside and out. Mathieu Heijboer has also been following me since I was young. They already know everything about me. That makes everything a lot easier," he concluded.