"I hope to be able to stay with Sepp Kuss as long as possible" - Cian Uijtdebroeks improving after difficult 'numb legs' days at La Vuelta

Friday, 30 August 2024 at 15:09

Cian Uijtdebroeks is a rider that has promised a lot throughout the past few years but in 2024 he's been having a rough time with Team Visma | Lease a Bike. The young Belgian has had to give up on his GC ambitions at the Vuelta a España and many called for him to be taken out of the race after comments about his lack of feeling in the legs; but the youngster says that he is again on the rise.

"The past two days things went a bit better, although I really had a bad moment yesterday during the first climb. At the end, things went much better again," Uijtdebroeks said in words to Het Laatste Nieuws. "I'm holding on to those better moments. Although I fear that my legs will feel annoyingly sore again on the steep kilometers. I hope to be able to stay with Sepp Kuss as long as possible."

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Uijtdebroeks was forced to abandon the Giro d'Italia in the second week due to illness whilst sitting in fifth place. That was his big goal of the season and it went down the drain in dramatic fashion; but at the Tour de Suisse and Vuelta a Burgos he was far from showing promising form.

He still looked to have a free role and aim for the GC at the Vuelta but this ended on stage 7. “I rode as hard as I can, but I still have a numb feeling in my legs and everything just blocks," he said at the time. Sporza commentator José de Cauwer brought forward the possibility that he could have an injury which affects cyclists quite a bit: "It is absolutely possible that it's a problem with the femoral artery".

Over social media there have been countless criticism of the Dutch team for keeping Uijtdebroeks in the race despite his apparent issues. But within the team the situation is up to date and he remains in the race. Over the Manzaneda summit finish he did not finish far from the GC group and reports improving sensations.