Visma-Lease a Bike rider Cian Uijtdebroeks’ recent run of rotten luck continued yesterday, when the young Belgian pro was “hit hard” by a motorist during a training ride, leaving him hospitalised, though he escaped without sustaining any serious injuries.
Uijtdebroeks was training at home ahead of this weekend’s Belgian national road race championships, where he was planning to return to racing after two months out due to a recurring back injury.
However, that comeback now appears to be in doubt, after the 22-year-old posted a photo of his legs from his hospital bed last night, announcing that he’d been struck by driver, while calling on motorists to “pay attention to vulnerable road users”.
“Today a car came out of his parking, crossed the road, and hit me hard during training,” Uijtdebroeks wrote on Instagram.
“Please pay attention to vulnerable road users! If you don’t, you’re playing with lives!”
Last night, the Belgian’s Visma-Lease a Bike team confirmed that Uijtdebroeks did not suffer any fractures or serious injuries in the crash, and was discharged from hospital on Wednesday evening.
“Cian was indeed involved in a training accident. Fortunately, no fractures were found at the hospital and he was allowed to go home later that evening,” Visma said in a statement.
“He did suffer some bruises and abrasions. We will have to wait and see how his recovery progresses in the coming days.”
Cian Uijtdebroeks, 2024 Giro d’Italia (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Uijtdebroeks’ latest setback compounds a torrid year for the 22-year-old, who has been plagued by health issues since he controversially ripped up his contract with Bora-Hansgrohe early to join Visma-Lease a Bike in 2024.
Widely rated as one of the sport’s finest grand tour prospects, the Belgian won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2022, before securing an impressive string of top ten placings in major stage races the following year, including eighth overall at the Vuelta a España as a 20-year-old in his first three-week race.
However, since that tumultuous departure from Bora-Hansgrohe, he has struggled for form and fitness, due to recurring injuries in his back and legs, which forced him to adjust his bike set-up over the winter.
Those injuries led him to abandon last year’s Giro d’Italia, while sitting fifth overall and leading the best young rider’s classification, following that setback up with largely anonymous performances at the Tour de Suisse, Vuelta a Burgos, and the Vuelta a España, where he complained of numbness in his legs before testing positive for Covid.
Cian Uijtdebroeks, 2024 Vuelta a España (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
His bike set-up changes over the winter appeared to pay dividends early this season, with a strong showing at the Tour of Oman. However, his leg and back issues returned at Tirreno-Adriatico, and he has only raced three times since mid-March, his last outing coming at the Tour du Doubs on 20 April, where he finished 22nd.
“The last couple of months have been a period of hard work towards upcoming goals with the focus on getting the engine properly running again,” Uijtdebroeks posted on Instagram earlier this week before his crash.
“I will be back in the bunch on Sunday at Nationals to enjoy the lovely Belgian crowd.”
However, thanks to one seemingly distracted driver, the 22-year-old’s long-awaited return to racing now appears to be in serious doubt.
Of course, Uijtdebroeks isn’t the first high-profile Belgian pro to have at least part of their 2025 season derailed thanks to a motorist.
In December, double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel suffered multiple fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade, and right hand, as well as contusions on both lungs and a dislocated collarbone, when he was struck by the “swinging door of a bpost truck” during a training ride.
Remco Evenepoel after surgery (credit: Remco Evenepoel)
A week after the collision, which delayed Evenepoel’s start to the season until April (though he immediately returned to winning ways at Brabantse Pijl), the postal service company teamed up with the Soudal Quick-Step rider to launch a now-award winning safety campaign designed to encourage drivers and car passengers to watch out for cyclists when opening their doors.
Announcing the ‘Remco Reflex’ campaign, and its advocacy of the ‘Dutch Reach’ technique, Evenepoel said: “When the people at bpost made me this proposal, I immediately jumped at the chance. All road users must take each other into account.
“The bpost initiative will undoubtedly help raise awareness of the dangers on the road. I would therefore like to thank bpost for introducing the Remco Reflex. This will undoubtedly prevent many accidents.”