Visma-Lease a Bike have announced that up-and-coming Belgian racer Cian Uijtdebroeks has ended his rollercoaster Vuelta a España early, pulling out before stage 15 with COVID-19.
Eighth in last year’s Vuelta a España but forced to pull out of a promising Giro d’Italia this May with illness, Uijtdebroeks came into the Grand Tour with hopes of racing as Visma’s ‘Plan B’ alongside defending champion Sepp Kuss.
However, a difficult first week in the heat of southern Spain wrecked his GC hopes and he rode with what he called a “paralysed feeling” in his legs. On stage 10, the first in the north of Spain, he finished second last and an abandon seemed more than likely.
However, Uijtdebroeks turned things around well as the second week progressed, and on Saturday’s final ascent, he did a colossal turn on the front on the final ascent, the first-category Leitariegos, to ensure Wout van Aert was in a position to go for the reduced bunch sprint at Villablino.
Speaking to Sporza before the stage 14 start, Uijtdebroeks said that "The early days of the Vuelta were difficult for me, but now things are sometimes going a bit better, like yesterday [Friday]."
"I didn't feel that bad on the climb [the Ancares] I didn't go all out either and at the end I had that paralyzed feeling in my legs again. But it was not at all comparable to the first day after the rest day."
However, in their X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday morning Visma-Lease A Bike announced that “We are sad to communicate that Cian Uijtdebroeks will have to withdraw from La Vuelta due to a Covid infection. We wish Cian a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Cian!”
The second Visma-Lease a Bike to have to quit the Vuelta early after Dylan van Baarle quit on stage 2 following a bad crash caused him to break his hip, Uijtdebroeks is far from the only case of an enforced abandonment due to COVID-19 in this year’s Vuelta.
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) pulled out with COVID-19 before stage 9 and Thymen Arensman and Laurens de Plus (both Ineos Grenadiers), Harold López (Astana), Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) and Cofidis Ruben Fernández have all quit at different points in the race for the same reason.
