Setback for Visma | Lease a Bike: Uijtdebroeks forced to leave Vuelta due to Covid 19

Cian Uijtdebroeks will not start in the fifteenth stage of the Vuelta a España. The Belgian rider for Visma | Lease a Bike is leaving the race after testing positive for COVID-19. The Dutch team will therefore continue with six riders, following Dylan van Baarle's earlier withdrawal in stage two.

Visma | Lease a Bike announced Uijtdebroeks's withdrawal on social media. "Unfortunately, we have to announce that Cian Uijtdebroeks must withdraw from La Vuelta due to a COVID infection. We wish Cian a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Cian!" The young Belgian climber has had a tough Vuelta so far. As a shadow leader under the title defender Sepp Kuss, he was expected to help lead the team, but things did not go as planned. Incidentally, this is the second rider in two days to withdraw due to COVID-19: Rubén Fernández of Cofidis did not start on Saturday for the same reason.

Last year, Uijtdebroeks impressively finished eighth in his debut in a Grand Tour, but this year things haven't gone well at all. The heat was a major factor for him, among other issues, but overall, he wasn't feeling good. "I'm riding as hard as I can, but I keep feeling a numbness in my legs, and everything just locks up. We've often said it could be due to fatigue or 'this or that,' but it can't keep coming back," Uijtdebroeks said earlier in the Vuelta. The 21-year-old stage racer was in a disappointing 57th place in the general classification due to these struggles.

Uijtdebroeks's upward trend suddenly cut short

However, there was an upward trend in the Belgian rider's performance while racing for the Dutch team: in the recent mountain stages, Uijtdebroeks managed to better involve himself in the climbing battles. For example, in Friday's stage to the Puerto de Ancares, he finished in 32nd place, ahead of the red jersey wearer Ben O'Connor. On Saturday, the young rider did hard work for Wout van Aert, but the latter was unable to capitalize on it.