Suffering ends: Arvid de Kleijn and Cian Uijtdebroeks abandon Tour de France

Arvid de Kleijn has abandoned the Tour de France. The Dutch sprinter had been suffering for days, and early in stage six it quickly became clear that continuing would be extremely difficult. Less than an hour into the stage, the Tudor Pro Cycling Team rider was dropped again, and this time he had seen enough. His debut in La Grande Boucle lasted just over five stages.

De Kleijn had been struggling from the opening day. The team time trial left him with muscle tears. “I hadn’t ridden a time trial bike for a year, and then suddenly you have to ride one here,” he said earlier in this Tour. “Your whole body hurts after that, and then you have to recover. But recovering in the Tour is very different from recovering in normal circumstances.”

The following stages were no easier for the powerful sprinter. On the stage to Les Angles, won by Tadej Pogačar, he came in last, and the same happened again a day later. It became a constant fight against the time cut. Stage five looked like one for the sprinters, but even there the Dutchman had to let go, just when he might otherwise have had a chance of fighting for a strong result.

That was, of course, hugely frustrating. “Yesterday was very disappointing, frustrating,” he told NOS at the start of stage six. “The body just didn’t want to. The climbs were coming, and then you fool yourself and tell yourself you want to get over them. But it really didn’t work. Mentally, it became a struggle, because you know you are not going to be sprinting.”

“Do I sometimes ask myself what I am doing here? Yesterday I did,” he admitted with complete honesty. “I don’t have the answer to that. Today I will try to survive, for however long that lasts. We will see how it works out. Riding alone has cost me a lot, and I find it difficult to recover from it. It will be very hard anyway, because this is my first Grand Tour. I hope my body can manage it.”

It soon became clear that it would not happen. The start was relatively flat, but the pace was high. De Kleijn was dropped very early, and after forty kilometers he called it a day. His first Tour de France came to a painful and disappointing end.

Later in the day, Cian Uijtdebroeks also abandoned the race. The Belgian Movistar rider was dropped on the Col d’Aspin and was not seen again. On the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, confirmation came through that the climber had climbed off.

Like De Kleijn, Uijtdebroeks had already been struggling for several days. He was dropped in the team time trial and also had a difficult time in the days that followed. He had been dealing with stomach problems and fever, and had already lost a significant amount of time in the general classification. The Pyrenees proved too much, and he abandoned.

His fellow Belgian Bert Van Lerberghe of Soudal Quick-Step also climbed off. That means Tim Merlier has lost one of his most trusted lead-out riders.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]