More concern for Cian Uijtdebroeks as Visma star makes last minute withdrawal from Coppi e Bartali: “We are now discussing internally what we are going to do with his program"

Cian Uijtdebroeks is really not enjoying the best period of his career. After a concerning end to the 2024 season saw the Belgian consistently plagued by a feeling of dead legs, there was hope 2025 might be different. But after being forced to abandon the recent Tirreno-Adriatico, Uijtdebroeks has now made a last minute withdrawal from Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Coppi e Bartali lineup, as a search for answers continues.

“Cian had a really hard time in the days after his withdrawal,” explains Team Visma | Lease a Bike DS Maarten Wynants, in conversation with Wielerflits. “But we are trying to stay calm. In Italy, Cian had a moment of emotion. We are trying to extract that and then look at the symptoms. Then we can make a diagnosis. We have to do it in the right order and only then draw our conclusions. And then act on it.”

As mentioned, after first suffering the poor feeling in 2024, there was genuine hope that 2025 could be the year for Uijtdebroeks to really shine. These new setbacks are already casting serious doubt on that idea though. Nevertheless, Wynants and Visma aren't losing faith just yet, insisting they will find a solution to the issues Uijtdebroeks is battling.

“No, it is too simplistic to say that this has been for nothing. Research must show what the results will be, but that work is never for nothing. We are convinced that it will be fine. But how much time that will take depends on the diagnosis," explains Wynants of their work to find just such a solution. “Cian was of course super disappointed. We tried to be a listening ear. What are the symptoms? What does Cian feel? We certainly did not judge.”

“We are now discussing internally what we are going to do with his program," concludes the Visma DS, uncertain of what lies in the near future for Uijtdebroeks. "I cannot make any definitive statements about that yet.”