"Visma can really make riders better on a time trial” - Cian Uijtdebroeks to show ITT improvement on Giro d'Italia stage 7?

After a solid opening six stages, Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Cian Uijtdebroeks arrives at the first individual time-trial of the 2024 Giro d'Italia sitting 4th in the GC. Having worked hard on the discipline that was arguably his weak point, can the Belgian show some improvement against the clock. 

“I am really curious about Uijtdebroeks," previews Eurosport's Bobbie Traksel ahead of a stage that sees the riders take on a 40.6km course, with Tadej Pogacar and Filippo Ganna amongst the favourites for the stage win. "Also due to his switch from BORA - hansgrohe to Team Visma | Lease a Bike. We have seen that Visma can really make riders better on a time trial.”

Uijtdebroeks himself said in his post-stage 6 interview that he was looking forward to testing himself against the clock having worked hard on improvement over recent weeks and months. “I enjoyed myself today. I didn't really have the rankings in mind, I just set my mind to zero. I really enjoyed myself. Hopefully that will also be the case tomorrow in the time trial. So far everything is going well for me in this Giro. I can't complain about that. On Friday I will ride as fast as I can and I will see what that will be worth,” he said post-stage 6.

"What surprises me: they say that they have worked hard on this over the last two months. That sounds short. How much can you improve in such a way? Why don't you start doing that in the winter?" questions Eurosport's Jip van den Bos doubtfully.

Traksel however, believes Uijtdebroeks' protracted and controversial transfer may have made things more difficult in the opening weeks of the season. "He switched in a very difficult way, and late in the winter," he explains. "They have invested time in it, and normally you see that the team pays off. Just how: we'll see."