Reading the news, the idea of a smooth transfer was banked and thoughts turned to how Bora-hansgrohe might have invested in Uijtdebroeks as a junior and nurtured his debut but pro sport has little room for sentimentality. There was talk of several teams being interested, then suddenly Jumbo-Visma landed him. He’d voiced dissatisfaction, whether frustration of team tactics in the Vuelta, or a rant about the team’s bikes at the GP des Nations. Uijtdebroeks move is a surprise but not a shock. Only today we’ve got confirmation that Mark Padun is leaving EF Education for Corratec-Selle Italia, despite notionally having a year left with the US team. Yet we’re seeing more riders break contracts to change teams, call it the “Paradox of Long Contracts” where the longer the deal, the more likely it is to get broken. On Saturday Jumbo-Visma announced they’d signed Cian Uijtdebroeks, a surprise as Uijtdebroeks has a contract with Bora-hansgrohe for 2024. It makes for a spicy custody battle with a ring of farce but there are wider issues for the sport here too as we see more and more long term contracts, and increasingly more cases of riders getting out of them. Cycling’s governing body the UCI has yet to have have its say but as we’ll see it’s bound to be involved too. The 20 year old announced he is moving to Jumbo-Visma for next year but Bora-hansgrohe say he’s under contract and going nowhere. A top Belgian talent trying to leave their team and move to a squad famous for grand tour success? No, not Remco Evenepoel’s summer saga trying to swap Soudal-Quickstep for Ineos but Cian Uijtdebroeks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |