Cian Uijtdebroeks tries to get 'calma, calma' in at Movistar

He must become the"el nuevo jefe" at Movistar: Cian Uijtdebroeks may be 22 years old, but at Movistar he is already facing his fifth year as a WorldTour pro with his third team. A team for which he will directly ride the Tour de France as a leader for the first time in his career. ID:LProCycing spoke to him at length in Valencia.

Where Enric Mas chooses - despite a Tour start in Barcelona - to leave the Tour de France for a year, Uijtdebroeks is eager. 'I have to get a whiff of it, don't I? After all, it is the race where I want to show myself in the coming years. But that doesn't mean I go there without ambition, certainly not. I want to show myself in the rankings.'

'I will do the Tour alone, but also in all the other races I do I may show myself. That is ultimately also the reason I came to this team,' stated the Belgian, who broke his ongoing contract with Visma | Lease a Bike for a transfer to Spain and was introduced to his new team in the beautiful Palau de les Arts.

Cian, how do you like it so far at Movistar?
'Positive so far. We started well and I'm getting to know the team well. We are already doing all kinds of tests, like the time trial, to get things on point.'

Your transfer was suddenly announced, out of the blue. Take me back to the beginning: how did it go from your perspective?
'The thing was: me and Visma were on a bit of a different track. The goal remained to develop as a tour rider, but there probably wouldn't be a grand tour in 2026. Then my manager and I came to the conclusion that that didn't match our ambitions.

At that point we clearly talked to the team and basically came to the same conclusion: it would be better to part ways. And then we were looking at all the other options, in the limited time we had.

There were still quite a few options, but we chose Movistar based on the program I could ride and the feeling I had with the team. They have a good history in the races I want to show myself in, so I wanted to take that chance right away.'

'How did Plugge and Niermann act when you first contacted them to tell them you weren't quite comfortable anymore?
'They understood. As two parties we clearly put our ideas towards the future on the table and there was a difference of opinion in that, after which we parted ways in a mature way. And that's very nice. There was never a fight.'

Visma has the image of a strict, well-organized Western team, where Movistar is sometimes labeled Spanish. How do you see that?
'It is of course a team with a Spanish identity, but at Visma it is the same with Dutch. Movistar also realizes that they have to go a little more international if they want to be among the best teams and I think this is a step towards that internationalizing the team.'

How did they present that to you, since you signed for four years, right?
'The goal is mainly those big tours and finish as high as possible there. In 2020 I also spoke with Movistar, far-reaching talks even. Then we also spoke to each other and so for me it wasn't like it came out of nowhere.'

Is it exciting, such a leap of faith?
'I always just want to go for the maximum and it's not that the team is already ramping up the pressure. We just want to pursue our goals and that is eventually a podium in the Tour de France. I get full opportunity and that's what I was looking for.'

What will your season look like?
'I will start in the Valencia and then fit in an altitude training. Then I will ride Paris-Nice, also with an eye on the team time trial in the Tour, and Itzulia. That is also a very important race for the team.

Then the Walloon classics, do I will ride for the first time. The one-day races went well for me last year and I would like to improve further. If a San Sebastian goes well and a Il Lombardia fairly okay, those should be races where I should be able to show something.

On the other hand, you shouldn't want to change too much either. Take my explosiveness. You can work on that, but the fact remains that my 20-minute values, and more, are my strong point. The training leans more towards what I did at BORA and how UAE is doing it now as well, with a lot of zone 2. And I really like doing that, too.'

You've already shown super beautiful things, but how much more stretch is there?
'Still a lot. Especially in time trial. We've never personalized that, measured out or anything. With this team, they want to narrow that gap and you can see that Ivan Velasco, as an engineer, is doing very well with that. There are good bikes, the clothing is right and the atmosphere is very calm. That appeals to me.

Calma calma.
(laughs) 'Belgians have that maybe a little less, but for a type like me, who just wants to move forward.... it might be good. I had a conversation with my trainer (Xavier Muriel, ed.) and already submitted to him: I want this and that. He looked at me and said, 'Cian, just think about today, what we're going to do today. I'm in good hands here.'