Ben Hermans confirms retirement after not finding pro team: "I already have some ideas about what I want to do in the future"
Cycling
Ben Hermans has retired from professional cycling at age 38. It wasn't his preferred option, but the Belgian climber was not renewed by Cofidis this winter and failed to find a top team in which he'd be able to continue his career.
The Belgian himself confirmed this to Het Belang van Limburg, saying that it would likely take time to get used to. “I think so too, especially the first few months. I already have some ideas about what I want to do in the future, but those plans are not really concrete yet. I certainly won't rush into things.”
Thus bringing to a close a successful career which saw him take 19 pro wins including GC triumphs at the Tour of Austria (twice), Tour of Utah, Arctic Race of Norway and Tour of Utah. Hermans always distinguished himself as a climber and stage-racer, although the only time where he battled for a Grand Tour GC was at the 2016 Vuelta a España where he finished 14th.
He was one of the several riders of the French team who did not get a new contract and hasn't found a team, alongside for example Kenny Elissonde, among others. The team has changed it's leading block and staff quite a lot, and in a recent interview Hermans explained that by the end of the year most riders in the team were racing for themselves as they were already thinking of their future away from the team.
"We also very often ended up in the situation that we were riding with a team where the majority did not have a contract. Everyone rode for themselves," he explained. "If you then have to ride against strong blocks, you don't stand a chance.”
He might've found a structure to work with at a lower level, but also explained that after so many years at the highest level and at this point in his career, he didn't want to go down a level whilst knowing he still had the legs to be competitive with Cofidis. "I fully understand that it can be a decent team for a young rider who wants to grow and learn. But I am not interested in that anymore," he explains. "I also know well enough what dangers there are in the sport, I have been in hospital often enough. The sacrifices are not a problem for me, but I am not going to take risks for the minimum wage anymore".
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