The transfer of Cian Uijtdebroeks is causing quite a stir in the cycling world. The young Belgian cyclist seems poised to join the Visma team next year, but the lingering question is why he wants to leave BORA-hansgrohe.
One of the reasons might be the reported bullying he faced in the German team. Jean-Pierre Heynderickx, the former head of Uijtdebroeks’ team at BORA-hansgrohe, expresses surprise at this revelation.
“Several sources say that Uijtdebroeks was somewhat of an outsider at BORA,” says cycling journalist Thijs Zonneveld on the podcast In het Wiel.
“He was treated like some kind of nerd by the other cyclists, but also by the team leaders. He was bullied. For example, during the Vuelta, there was a group on an ‘Anti-Cian’ app, without him, so they could gossip about him. It’s really very childish. He didn’t feel at home in that team.”
Jean-Pierre Heynderickx served as the sports director at Bora-Hansgrohe in the last Vuelta a España. “I fell off my chair when I heard this, I was completely surprised,” he said in a conversation with Het Laatste Nieuws. “I’m quite embarrassed about it. If it’s true, then it happened behind my back, and I feel caught. I would consider it extremely low.”
“I want to know who did this.”
“So I’m not going to let this pass, and I absolutely want to know who founded this group, which cyclists and colleagues were part of it, and what was said and written. In fact, I sincerely hope from the bottom of my heart that this is not true,” concluded Heynderickx, who no longer works with the team.