'Still work to be done' – Cian Uijtdebroeks withdrawn from Tour de Romandie ahead of race start

Cian Uijtdebroeks' comeback to the peloton has been put on hold after his Visma-Lease a Bike team withdrew him from the Tour de Romandie this week.

The Belgian pulled out of March's Tirreno-Adriatico during the final stage, citing the same numb feeling in his legs he suffered late in 2024. He returned to racing in France earlier this month.

He took on the Classic Grand Besançon Doubs, Tour du Jura, and Tour du Doubs, with his best result being 22nd at the latter. He was on the startlist for Romandie, too, but was a late pull by his Dutch team.

Speaking to Sporza at the race, Visma-Lease A Bike directeur sportif Maarten Wynants explained the situation.

"In France, it became clear that Cian's condition is not yet as it should be," he said. "That's why we decided to take him off Romandie and give him a bit more time to build up.

"He needs to be back on track to compete at WorldTour level again."

Uijtdebroeks suffered from the same issue at last year's Vuelta a España, where he abandoned from 57th place on stage 15.

At Tirreno-Adriatico, he lay 33rd overall heading into the final sprint stage but was dropped from the peloton with 60km to run before stepping off the bike.

"I had it again for the first time this year. It didn't work. That just sucks," Uijtdebroeks said at the time. "There's not much I can do about it. We have to investigate this with the medical staff because I thought I was done with it. It really sucks that it's coming back."

Wynants said that the 22-year-old was "realistic" about the situation, adding that there's still work to do before he can make a proper return to top-level racing.

"He is realistic about how things are. He had returned to competition, and it turned out that we still need more time to build up," he said.

"There is still work to be done for Cian, as it turns out. And we will do that in the coming weeks."

With no Uijtdebroeks in Romandie, Visma are now looking to other riders for results this week. Spring revelation Matthew Brennan was their best finisher in Tuesday's prologue with 15th place, seven seconds off stage winner, Sam Watson.

The team will also look to Norwegian racer Jørgen Nordhagen for a strong challenge in the general classification.

"We still have Jurgen Nordhagen for the general classification, and with Matthew Brennan we want to go for stages," Wynants said. "We still have nice sporting goals."