While much of the media attention at the opening stage of the 2026 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana will logically be on Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), another top up-and-coming Belgian racer will quietly be making his debut for new team Movistar in the same five-day event.
Cian Uijtdebroeks, 22, has had his fair share of the spotlight regarding team switches over the last three years, following his early contract terminations first to leave Bora-Hansgrohe for Visma-Lease a Bike and then again to move onto Movistar.
However, as he told Het Laatste Nieuws prior to his first event in Valencia, he's now much happier with a more relaxed attitude to racing with the Spanish WorldTour squad.
After what was – for him, though not for other riders – a less relaxed approach at Visma-Lease a Bike, Uijtdebroeks also expressed strong ambitions for his Tour de France debut this summer, where he'll be battling, he said, for a top ten placing overall. At Valencia, meanwhile, his ambitions are much more modest.
"I can definitely lose another three kilos," he told Het Laatste Nieuws. "We didn't want to go too fast. This race [Valencia] is very punchy and not a main goal for me.
"I can lose a bit more for Paris-Nice, and especially for the Basque Country, which is my first goal and important for our team.
"This will be a test leading up to the Tour, where I'm aiming for a top ten finish. Many of the riders here also ride the Tour. We want to forge the team here and test out the time trial."
Uijtdebroeks said that he had not raced on a time trial bike since Tirreno-Adriatico last year, but that while Visma were very data-driven and, in terms of training, were "the most precise team in the world," he'd personally missed out on his time trialling practice at Visma.
The young Belgian also claimed to Het Laatste Nieuws that he felt he had not had much chance to provide much input into his training programs at the Dutch squad. Putting it all together, as well as with what Movistar had to offer, he felt it was time to move on.
In terms of approaches to racing, Uijtdebroeks argued that the atmosphere was more relaxed. For example, when it came to riders weighing their food intake at dinner – now a standard practice in many top World Tour teams – he said, "There are also scales on the table, but you're free to use them. On Tuesday afternoon, five of the seven riders used them, and I even saw a few enjoying pastries.
"If you want to live a very strict lifestyle, as I do, you can. I'm in daily contact with the nutritionist. If you look at my teammate Enric Mas, he's not the widest in the peloton."
Comparisons with Evenepoel are pretty much de rigeur for top Belgian stage racers, and Uitjebroeks said that in time trialling, he felt he had at least reduced the gap on the rider widely rated as the best specialist in that area in the world.
"I've already lost three minutes to Remco, but now it shouldn't be more than a minute," he said, referring to Thursday's individual time trial. "I have a new bike position and 'bespoke' handlebars. I feel at home in my training here."
Asked why he felt Movistar was a better choice for him after two years at Bora and Visma, respectively, he said, "Because I've already seen both extremes. You can't compare today's Red Bull to Bora in 2023. That team is more Visma-like now.
"I need a more relaxed team, where I can create a professional environment for myself and get my chances. Of course, things will still go wrong. That happened with Primož Roglič when he moved to Bora. That's not a problem; what matters is that I'm in a different position here than where I was last year."
