Uijtdebroeks strikes back (as does the spirited Valter) after Catalonia feedback, Visma | Lease a Bike continues to be passive

Robert Gesink dropped out with a broken hand on the first day, and on the second day, Olav Kooij and Attila Valter hit the asphalt. Visma | Lease a Bike is in a tough spot, two days into the Giro d'Italia, they still hold the white jersey for Cian Uijtdebroeks. The young Belgian has had an excellent start to his mission to achieve a good classification result. His team, however, prefers to remain cautiously optimistic.

On Sunday, Uijtdebroeks held strong on the final climb to Oropa and captured the white jersey, keeping a respectable distance from winner Tadej Pogacar. "When he attacked, I took a more conservative approach, as I'm not as explosive as he is. I didn't panic and rode at my own pace, which was ideal. I was also able to close the gap with Geraint Thomas and Ben O'Connor, but due to my lack of explosiveness, I knew it would be tough in the sprint," the climbing talent told Eurosport in his analysis immediately after crossing the finish line.

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White jersey a goal for Uijtdebroeks, not yet for Visma | Lease a Bike

Bonification seconds were not in the cards, but with a seventh place finish, he convincingly took over the white jersey from Alex Baudin of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. With previously mentioned rivals like Thymen Arensman (INEOS) and Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain) already facing significant time losses, the youth classification jersey firmly rests on Uijtdebroeks’ shoulders. "I am so happy with the white jersey. Your first jersey in a grand tour is always special and today is no exception. Will the white jersey become a goal? It's still a long race of three weeks, where a lot can happen, but once you have it, you want to fight for it. And that's what I'll do all the way to Rome!"

Team director Addy Engels understands the Belgian's enthusiasm but emphasizes in an interview with IDLProCycling.com that the team remains cautious. "Is the white jersey now a goal? No. We said that we want to go for the best possible overall ranking with Cian, but that's a secondary goal. That's how we started, and the main goal is to win stages. During the race, we'll see how things go and if we need to adjust, then we will. But it's only two days in and we're not going to think too far ahead now."

A passive stance, in line with Visma | Lease a Bike's general approach to this year's Giro d'Italia. Uijtdebroeks proved last year in the Vuelta a España (with BORA-hansgrohe) that he could ride in the top ten, but his new team wants to take all pressure off his shoulders. "Every day that's important for Cian, we'll support him as best we can. We'll take it day by day. If we do that well each day and Cian stays at this level, then the white jersey becomes a goal. That's a really great goal to win and it's on his mind. That makes sense, but it's not the main goal. It will come into play if he continues to ride like this," said Engels.

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Valter defends Uijtdebroeks after Catalonia criticism

A logical reaction for Visma | Lease a Bike, which confidently fielded Uijtdebroeks as their team leader at the Tour of Catalonia in March. He rode around anonymously and gave up on day seven, feeling tired. Uijtdebroeks has learned from that, for example by not reacting when someone like Pogacar steps on the gas. "When competitors take off, you always have to go by your gut. In Catalonia I tried going for it together with Attila Valter, but then I wasn't fit either and I didn't have good legs. You just learn something like that over the years, because for now I don't have many on the counter. But step by step we are getting there."

Valter, who assisted Uijtdebroeks in Catalonia and was also criticized for his meager performance, could not agree more with Uijtdebroeks words. "I was able to follow the final on the radio. I am very proud of him, because after Catalonia he received a lot of criticism. When you are as good as him, and then after a lesser race you are attacked like that.... He is one of the biggest talents for a reason and he showed that today. I'm very happy that we have him on the team. I'm looking forward to supporting him going forward, because I think he's going to be a big factor in the GC," said the fierce Hungarian, who himself hit the ground heading into the finale.

Engels seems to be cautious about Uijtdebroeks for exactly that reason, even after a good opening weekend at the Giro. "We knew he was in good shape, but the fact that he's in the white jersey after two days and fourth in the GC, that's a positively surprise. Today was already a better stage for him than yesterday, but we hadn't counted on anything specific. We went in yesterday and today to finish in the winner's time, also knowing that there is a super strong favorite, who can drop anyone when he wants to. Cian then had to be as close as possible. It wasn't his kind of effort, but it wasn't a surprise to us that he was there either. When Cian is good, you can expect that. It's good what he showed, especially at the moment when he briefly crossed to Thomas and O'Connor on his own. He rode a good climb, with a super nice result."