{"id":283649,"date":"2025-11-26T03:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T03:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/283649\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T03:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T03:22:09","slug":"cian-uijtdebroeks-explains-reasoning-behind-surprise-visma-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/283649\/","title":{"rendered":"Cian Uijtdebroeks explains reasoning behind surprise Visma exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Uijtdebroeks has been open about his long-term goal: targeting general classification at the biggest stage races on the calendar. And as he sees it, that simply wasn\u2019t realistic at Visma given the depth of their roster. \u201cIn the end, my heart is in the Grand Tours \u2014 that\u2019s where I want to fight for the GC. And you can\u2019t do that if you\u2019re not riding them. At Visma it would be very difficult because of the great riders they have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His departure was also related with the exit of Merijn Zeeman<\/a> \u2014 a figure Uijtdebroeks describes as \u201ca bit of a mentor\u201d \u2014 adding another layer to his desire for a change of environment.Settling in at Movistar: \u201cIt felt like coming home\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite not yet being fluent in Spanish, Uijtdebroeks insists the transition has already been smoother than many expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI speak it a little, but not very well yet. It will come. I\u2019ve already tried Duolingo and I\u2019m also taking online classes on Teams,\u201d he explained. \u201cMaybe people would expect me not to feel comfortable because I don\u2019t master the language, but it was actually great. Somehow it felt like coming home. That was exactly what I was looking for in a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

What attracted him to Movistar was not just the opportunity for GC leadership, but a change in day-to-day atmosphere \u2014 something he believes will bring the best out of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I needed this freedom. Because I\u2019m very strict and disciplined, a slightly more relaxed team suits me well. Sometimes it\u2019s better to have someone nearby who tells you to \u2018take it easy\u2019. A bit like Alex does. That mentality suits me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CianUijtdebroeks<\/p>\n

Can Uijtdebroeks fulfill his Grand Tour ambitions at Movistar?<\/p>\n

A fresh sporting plan \u2014 and GC targets already forming<\/p>\n

For 2026, Uijtdebroeks says Movistar have offered him more creative control and a structure tailored to his development. \u201cI\u2019m very guided by the first conversation I have with a team. Here it was really very good, even without talking about \u2018performance\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of input and freedom in shaping my race programme. We\u2019re still waiting a bit for the Giro route, but I\u2019ll definitely be going for GC at one of the Grand Tours. Maybe they\u2019ll need to convince me a little for the tough Tour route, but I\u2019d be open to it. We\u2019ll see. In any case, I\u2019ll ride the Ardennes Classics.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also pushed back on the long-standing perception that Movistar operate with less modern structure than other WorldTour setups. \u201cIt\u2019s often said that Movistar works in a less professional way. But I\u2019ve seen they offer excellent support. No apps, but a very human approach. Everyone has a personal nutritionist. They contact me almost daily to fine-tune the planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

A point to prove in 2026<\/p>\n

Uijtdebroeks arrives at Movistar with a huge spotlight on him after forcing a WorldTour exit for the second time in his young career. Now, with leadership expected and a Grand Tour campaign on the horizon, the pressure \u2014 and the opportunity \u2014 has never been greater.<\/p>\n

Movistar believe he can deliver. Now it\u2019s up to him to show he can lead one of cycling\u2019s historic teams into a new era of GC ambition.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uijtdebroeks has been open about his long-term goal: targeting general classification at the biggest stage races on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[113394,4985,115655,38938,101,36242,109609,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-283649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cian-uijtdebroeks","tag-cycling","tag-merijn-zeeman","tag-movistar-team","tag-sports","tag-team-visma-lease-a-bike","tag-transfers-negotiations","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}