While Jonas Vingegaard takes the spotlight as the overall favourite and GC leader of Visma-Lease a Bike at Tirreno-Adriatico, by his side will be top young talent Cian Uijtdebroeks who the Dane has “taken under his wing.”
The 21-year-old Belgian will race alongside the two-time Tour de France winner for the second time this season at the Race of the Two Seas after working well in support of Vingegaard’s domination of O Gran Camiño.
Uijtdebroeks joined Visma-Lease a Bike after a controversial saga with Bora-Hansgrohe which saw both sides claim he would ride for them in 2024. His contract was eventually terminated and he signed for Visma in December.
The Belgian has declared his satisfaction at the outcome, and he will now seek to progress as a GC rider at Visma-Lease A Bike, using Vingegaard as a model.
“Vingegaard has taken me under his wing a bit,” said Uijtdebroeks to Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
“He watches me race, he gives me tips during the race and then he gives me feedback. He sees me as a young guy who can do great things in the future.
“If I have any questions, I can ask them immediately and I will immediately receive an honest answer. We get along very well.”
Uijtdebroeks has already performed well in his two years at Bora-Hansgrohe, taking eighth at last year’s Vuelta a España, sixth at the Tour de Romandie, ninth at the Tour de Suisse and the overall victory of the 2022 Tour de l’Avenir.
But Vingegaard sees a much higher ceiling for his young teammate.
“I do think he can win a Grand Tour one day,” Vingegaard said to Cyclingnews and other media ahead of Tirreno-Adriatico.
“He’s still very young and has a lot of potential. He’s probably one of the biggest talents in the sport. It’s good he’s in our team and not a rival team and I’m happy to have him with me at Tirreno-Adriatico.”
Vingegaard will be the focus for the Dutch squad on the key mountain days on stages 5 and 6, but Uijtdebroeks will be one of the last riders in the Dane’s train alongside Ben Tullett and Steven Kruijswijk.
“I think he’ll perhaps have a supporting role like in Gran Camiño, but he might go to the finish sometimes too. He’ll go full gas in the time trial and then we’ll see our tactics,” Vingegaard said.
“He fits in the team well. He’s professional and eager to learn. That makes him fit in very well.”
Uijtdebroeks was fifth at O Gran Camiño behind team leader Vingegaard and the rest of the GC riders who were all more than 1:55 down on the Dane after three days of competitive racing.
He’ll build on that at Tirreno before heading to the Volta a Catalunya alongside Sepp Kuss, with a debut and leadership scheduled for the Giro d’Italia in May. There he will be the only GC rider sent by the Dutch squad with Wout van Aert and Olav Kooij also in the hunt for stages.
