Top talents to watch out for in 2023: Cian Uijtdebroeks from Bora-Hansgrohe
Andreas Kublik
· 15.01.2023
Info about Cian Uijtdebroeks
- Date of birth: 28/02/2003
- Nationality: Belgian
- Height/weight: 1.85 m, 68 kg
Teams
- 2022 Bora-Hansgrohe
- 2023 Bora-Hansgrohe
- 2024 Bora-Hansgrohe
Cian Uijtdebroeks (Belgium), Bora-Hansgrohe
It is considered a good omen for a great career as a professional cyclist: overall victory in the Tour de l'Avenir in France, also known as the Tour de France for cyclists under 23. In the past decade, Nairo Quintana, Warren Barguil, Miguel Angel Lopez, David Gaudu, Egan Bernal, Tadej Pogacar and Tobias Foss have all won there.
They have all now reached the absolute top of the professional ranks. The winner of the 2022 edition is Cian (pronounced Kian) Uijtdebroeks. In his native Belgium, he is compared to his compatriot Remco Evenepoel, who is three years older. The scouts at Bora-Hansgrohe also recognised his great talent and signed him early on for the junior team Auto Eder. Since last year, the climbing and racing specialist has been riding professionally for Bora-Hansgrohe. His talent could shine through as early as 2023 in shorter stage races such as the Tour of Catalonia or Dauphine.
He has been promised a start at the Vuelta in Spain in the autumn if everything goes well. Last year, he had not yet competed at World Tour level, but finished eighth overall in the topographically demanding Tour of Norway and outsprinted former Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart on the climbs. His effusive thanks to the helpers in the Belgian national team after the Avenir victory shows that he knows how to lead a team and motivate his colleagues.
Cycling talents: TOUR shows 10 promotion candidates for 2023
TOUR editor Andreas Kublik takes a look at ten young riders who will be worth watching in 2023. We present the individual candidates in our series. Almost all of the selected riders are already under contract with a World Tour team. Signing cyclists at a very young age is a trend that has recently caught on with the top teams.
Numerous youngsters skip the U23 class and go straight into the professional ranks. The most prominent example of this development is Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian was under contract with Deceuninck - Quick Step in 2019 at the age of just 18. Since then, he has worked his way up to the top of the world rankings, including becoming road world champion in 2022.
Many top teams also have their own junior racing team, where they train their talents and later bring them into the professional squad. A prime example of this is the Groupama-FDJ team in 2023, which has recruited all seven new riders for this year from the Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
