Tom Boonen urges Visma "to thoroughly investigate" the cause of Cian Uijtdebroeks' recurring pain

Cian Uijtdebroeks is back on Visma | Lease a Bike's long list of injured riders again after the Tirreno-Adriatico. Although the 22-year-old didn't dramatically hit the deck, he's unlikely to return to action for the time being. 

The 22-year-old climbing talent spent hours in the gym last winter to strengthen his lower back. But in Tirreno, the "old pain" from the Vuelta reared its head again. "It's a problem that you can't solve in a nice linear line," sighs Tom Boonen in the Cycling Club Wattage. "At first it seems to get better, but after a while the pain comes back. It fluctuates all the time and that is really not good."

Boonen knows what he's talking about. In 2013, he himself had to deal with a persistent injury. Not to his back, but to his sitting area.

"You really need to thoroughly investigate the cause of such an injury before you start building up training again. If a problem like Uijtdebroeks' can be solved anywhere, it is at Visma | Lease a Bike. They have the right people for that," he still sounds hopeful.