"It is very nice to have it back again” - Cian Uijtdebroeks regains White Jersey at Giro d'Italia as Luke Plapp explodes on stage 8

Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Cian Uijtdebroeks was only without the White Jersey at the 2024 Giro d'Italia for one day. After losing it to Luke Plapp on the stage 7 time-trial, the Belgian emphatically regained the title of Best Young Rider on the stage 8 summit finish. 

"He (Plapp, ed.) already told me this morning that this climb would be very difficult for him,” Uijtdebroeks revealed in his post-stage interview. “But it wasn't on my mind, because my focus is on being as high as possible in the rankings, not specifically on the jersey. But it is very nice to have it back again.”

In the fight for the White Jersey of Best Young Rider, Uijtdebroeks' main challengers now seem to be Antonio Tiberi and Thymen Arensman. Tiberi especially was attacking and animated on stage 8, eventually coming across the line in 4th. “I knew he was probably going to try, but I was able to fend off the attacks," the Visma rider reflects. "It was not the day to attack yourself, because it was a fast climb. And INEOS still had two riders and UAE still had Majka. I knew they were going for the sprint.”

“When I responded to Tiberi, Pogacar was there immediately. There you could already see that he had good legs," Uijtdebroeks concludes, content to concede defeat to the Maglia Rosa. "We also know from the past that he is super fast. And right now he's super strong. If he sees an opportunity, he takes it.”