A new update also emerged on Monday evening in the transfer saga surrounding Cian Uijtdebroeks. The barely 20-year-old Belgian is said to have signed a four-year contract with Visma | Lease a Bike, but this news is emphatically denied by his current team BORA-hansgrohe.
The Dutch team is keen to sign the Belgian and seems set on succeeding in doing so. Visma | Lease a Bike confirmed to the American cycling website CyclingNews that the young Belgian would participate in the training camp in Denia, Spain, which will kick off near Alicante on Tuesday. Uijtdebroeks would thus skip BORA's training camp in Mallorca. "The team is going on a training camp and we have introduced Cian as our newest member. So yes, he will be joining us," they said.
Uijtdebroeks' management reacted to the issue on Sunday evening and has already initiated legal procedures so that Uijtdebroeks will spend next season (most likely) competing in the yellow-black kit. "The agreement between Cian Uijtdebroeks and BORA-hansgrohe ended on December 1, 2023," said management agency A&J All Sports. "Legal procedures have already been initiated by Cian and the UCI has been informed of the termination of the contract. Cian has confidence in the outcome of the ongoing procedure and will refrain from further comments at this time. Cian is, of course, excited and looking forward to future cooperation with Team Visma-Lease a Bike, starting from next season."
The young Belgian was not expected to complete his ongoing contract with BORA-hansgrohe and would join the Dutch team's roster from January 1, 2024, but BORA-hansgrohe appeared to put a stop to that. "Cian is and will remain a member of BORA-hansgrohe, also in the 2024 season," the team's statement read. "He is contractually part of the team until December 31, 2024." Uijtdebroeks had previously expressed his dissatisfaction with the German team, with whom he finished eighth in his first major tour, the Vuelta.