Uijtdebroeks reveals 40°C fever after team played down Tour illness

Cian Uijtdebroeks says he was taken to hospital repeatedly during the Tour de France as doctors monitored his heart while he continued racing through an illness that ultimately forced him to abandon.

Speaking to Het Nieuwsbladseveral weeks after his Tour came to a premature end, the Belgian has provided a fuller picture of just how unwell he was during the opening part of the race.

“I had a fever of 40 degrees,” Uijtdebroeks told Het Nieuwsblad. “During the Tour, I went to the hospital every day for checks, to see if there really was no risk to my heart.”

Those comments stand out because of the way his condition was described by his team during the race.

The controversy began after stage three, when Uijtdebroeks was asked to explain a disappointing start to the Tour and gave a straightforward answer: fever.

His admission immediately raised concerns, with medical experts warning about the potential risks of intense exercise while suffering from a fever, particularly the possibility of inflammation affecting the heart.

A day later, team director Jürgen Roelandts sought to put the situation into perspective. He said the decision to allow Uijtdebroeks to race had been made under medical supervision and stressed that the Belgian had not started with a temperature above 37.5°C.

“It was 37.3,” Roelandts said at the time.

Uijtdebroeks now paints a considerably more serious picture of the illness as a whole.

According to the 23-year-old, doctors performed heart scans and other examinations on several occasions during the Tour, specifically looking for signs of inflammation.

“I immediately told the team that I didn't want to take any risks,” he said. “I only wanted to continue if there was no danger to the heart.”

The examinations did not reveal any cardiac problems, which was one of the reasons Uijtdebroeks remained in the race initially.

Yet physically, he was struggling badly.

By stage three he already felt seriously ill, even if his performance did not fully reveal the extent of the problem. Uijtdebroeks lost only around 40 seconds that day, encouraging the team to believe he could survive the following stages and potentially recover as the Tour progressed.

“In stage three I was really sick. Very sick,” he said. “But I only lost 40 seconds.”

That created a difficult calculation. With two comparatively manageable stages ahead, followed by the Tourmalet and then the approaching rest day, there was still hope that he could somehow ride himself back into the race.

His body had other ideas.

Unable to eat and drink properly in demanding conditions, Uijtdebroeks deteriorated further. The underlying problem was eventually identified as a bacterial stomach infection.

He abandoned the Tour during stage six.

Leaving the Tour did not bring an immediate recovery.

“We kept checking my heart afterwards and looking at my blood values to see when I could start training harder again,” Uijtdebroeks said. “It took longer than expected.”

He had hoped to return at the Clásica San Sebastián and the Vuelta a Burgos, but was not ready. “Physically, definitely not, but maybe mentally as well. The Tour ended so quickly after I had sacrificed so much for it. I needed some time to process that and find a new goal.”

That goal became the Vuelta, although Uijtdebroeks is approaching it with fewer expectations.

“I just want to enjoy myself for three weeks,” he said. “Make the race when the legs allow it, enjoy the circus and step outside that extreme bubble for once.”

He also admits he has become more relaxed about training, nutrition and recovery. “I’m someone who can be very extreme with everything. It’s not a bad thing to take a more relaxed approach.”

There are still signs of ambition. His training numbers improved before the race and he was able to complete an altitude camp, but he remains unsure how his body will respond to consecutive days of racing.

“Before the Tour I put a huge amount of stress on my body in training. Then the illness was another massive stress. After that, we pushed a little to make the Vuelta. It can work, but things will have to go my way.”