"It can't just be fatigue every time" - A confused Cian Uijtdebroeks drops completely from GC contention after suffering dead legs on stage 7 at La Vuelta

Supposed to be Team Visma | Lease a Bike's general classification plan-B at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, Cian Uijtdebroeks was one of the surprising GC casualties on stage 7, losing more than 8 minutes, leaving the Belgian incredibly confused afterwards.

“I rode as hard as I can, but I still have a numb feeling in my legs and everything just blocks," Uijtdebroeks reflects in his post-stage interview with VTM afterwards, completely unsure of what went wrong for him on a day supposedly not for the general classification riders.

"We have often said that it could be due to fatigue or 'this or that', but it can't be that it keeps coming back. It can't just be fatigue every time," he continues. "I have never experienced riding around with such a numb feeling. I just can't do anything anymore. That is not normal. On such a short climb I should be able to sit much more at the front.”

"You do everything for it and work really hard. If this happens once, it's not so bad. But now it happens all the time and that's not fun. I feel like I'm riding around with swollen legs that don't produce any power. A feeling I've never had before," the Team Visma | Lease a Bike prospect concludes. “I will help the guys now who are doing well as best I can. We also have to look further into what the cause of this is. We will have to approach it differently for next year anyway.”

It wasn't all bad news for the Team Visma | Lease a Bike squad on stage 7 however, as Wout van Aert powered to his second stage win of the race, thanks largely to some super work late on by Sepp Kuss. With Kuss already over six minutes down in GC himself however, any potential Red Jersey win looks a long way off.