look. Cian Uijtdebroeks finished the Vuelta in eighth place: “It’s great that this has already been achieved in the first big round!” | Vuelta

For Cian Uijtdebroeks, the Vuelta became a fairytale with eighth place in the final classification. The young man smiled: “It’s only now starting to sink in.” “A few years ago I could only dream of this. It’s great that I was able to do it on my first big tour. A lot of things could go wrong, a lot of things could go wrong. So there’s definitely still margin. It was great that we were there right away.” This really couldn’t be better.

“Especially the Tourmalet and Anglero, two legendary climbs that I get to participate in, were my highlights. (He laughs) On the other hand, I will quickly forget the experience of time, the pain of the saddle, and the illness. I especially learned here to remain calm under difficult circumstances.. I was sometimes surprised by how well things worked out.

“I will definitely adjust my time trial this winter. I have the ability to: I’m not much less efficient compared to boys of the same size, but I’m still a lot slower. So my aerodynamics can be a lot better. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that,” said Uijtdebroeks, who is aiming for the Giro. Or the Vuelta again next year, “just like a blast.” “Then do a little bit better. The top five would be great.”

In the end, Uijtdebroeks had to put his teammate Alexander Vlasov ahead of him in the world rankings. The Russian overtook Uijtdebroeks only in the penultimate stage, when our compatriot was the only one among the classified men to lose the round. Before that trip, Uijtdebroeks, unusually for him, spoke about this situation. “I hope everyone is right and we don’t do anything stupid. It would be stupid to let Almeida get another place because Vlasov will attack me.” Even then, Uijtdebroeks showed that he is stronger than his more experienced teammate and noted that it was “difficult at times.” Internally: “I’m young and I think that plays a role. I just think we have it (VII, ed.) We must try to secure today. I found it on the last trip (When Vlasov finally attacked with his colleague Denz, ed.) Also…a bit silly, so to speak. “I feel there is a certain tension, that he would rather finish in front of me, whereas that doesn’t really matter to me.”

“Maybe it was good that he finished higher,” Uijtdebroeks now answers. He added: “We as a team, of course, should be very happy to have two among the top ten.” And that relationship with Vlasov? It’s better than everyone thinks, according to our young compatriot. “Everyone might think we don’t get along well, but that’s not the case at all. Everything is fine. Better sport is better sport.”