Bora talent Uijtdebroeks with criticism: "It would be nice if my bikes were in order"

British rider Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) won the Chrono des Nations and Cian Uijtdebroeks finished 14th, losing more than four minutes over 45.43 kilometres. The 20-year-old Belgian was struggling with material problems on his Specialized bikes. "My gear lever came loose after ten kilometres and I had to change my bike," explained Uijtdebroeks to Het Nieuwsblad.

Bora-Hansgrohe talent Uijtdebroeks unhappy with material

But it didn't work with the spare either. "The spare wheel wasn't working at all. You can ride as fast as you want, but it's not cool. I came here to learn. Then it would be nice if my wheels were in order."

Uijtdebroeks still sees a lot of room for improvement at Bora-Hansgrohe in terms of time trialling. "We really need to improve that - especially in terms of aerodynamics and the construction of the bike, there is still a lot of room for manoeuvre. I have the power. With my 65 kilograms, I put an average of almost 400 watts on the pedals over an hour. The whole setup needs to be fine-tuned. We lose a lot there."

Uijtdebroeks looks towards the Giro d'Italia 2024

The top talent has also already let it be known that he 2024 the Giro d'Italia wants to tackle. "There are two time trials. We really don't have any more time to lose. This winter we will have to spend a lot of time in the wind tunnel and on the track to improve my position." Uijtdebroeks explained that he wants to improve his CDA (drag coefficient; editor's note). Competitors such as Juan Ayuso or Remco Evenepoel have a value of 1.5, whereas Uijtdebroeks says he has a value of 1.9 to 2.0 (the lower the value, the better; editor's note). "That means I lose minutes," says the youngster. The concrete schedule for the winter has not yet been finalised, "but it seems clear to me that the team has work to do. It would be foolish not to do so," said Uijtdebroeks.

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Will Uijtdebroeks stay with Bora-Hansgrohe?

The Belgian, who finished eighth at the Vuelta a Espana this year, still has a contract with Bora-Hansgrohe until the end of 2024, but he left it open to Het Nieuwsblad what will happen after that: "I've had a good programme so far and have been able to make a lot of progress. That's also thanks to the team. I would never have been given so much freedom elsewhere. But we will have to analyse things carefully. What will it take to be really competitive in the grand tours in the future? Then we'll see whether Bora can offer that or whether we need to look for another team that can."