"I spent a lot of time in the bathroom over the past few days" - Uijtdebroeks recovers from illness to impress at Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Cian Uijtdebroeks went from the sobering lows of the bathroom to the soaring heights of the Grand Colombier during the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The Movistar star impressed on stage 7 despite revealing that he had been under the weather earlier in the race.

With the race reaching a boiling point on Saturday's high mountain stage, one of the standout performers was the Belgian star, finishing fifth place on the day ahead of Paul Seixas and Mattias Skjelmose among others.

And with the Tour de France right around the corner, Uijtdebroeks got a clear indication of his level as he prepares to lead his team in the grand tour. However, just a few days ago, the 23-year-old certainly wouldn't have expected to be competing at the top end of the race.

“I did not really know what to expect,” he told HLN after the stage. “I did not speak about it much during the week, but I had been feeling ill.”

Illness has hindered several teams during the stage race, including Visma | Lease a Bike and Bahrain-Victorious, but Movistar have been amongst the worst hit with an outbreak. Ivan Romeo and Jefferson Cepeda left the race due to illness, and Uijtdebroeks battled on through it.

But the Belgian came good at the right time, and was able to show great form on the brutal slopes of the Col du Grand Colombier. With another gruelling day of climbing ahead, he sits in eighth in the overall standings, and could further leap closer to the top five with a strong performance.

“I spent a lot of time in the bathroom over the past few days. But since this morning [Saturday], I have been feeling better. I finally had the same sensations again that I felt at the start of the race.”

“There is still a little more to come, but that is the case for everyone. A performance like this shows that the foundation is good.”