Ben Hermans hopes that his experience can net him a late contract offer: "I hope that somewhere there's still a team that sees that too"

Ben Hermans was never a leader for the biggest races, but throughout his career, he scored many noteworthy results - a list that includes 19 professional victories. But the last one is already quite dusty. The 38-year-old spent this season with Cofidis who offered him a last-minute contract last year, but now Hermans needs to look for a new team again.

"I still really love doing it," Hermans begins about his great passion, cycling, speaking to Het Nieuwsblad. "Why should I stop then?" The Belgian had a difficult spring, after which he did find his form again. "Since June, July I really feel good again. The Tour de Pologne was good and after that I would have liked to show myself in the Vuelta. Unfortunately I was not in the selection there."

It is not the first time that Hermans has found himself in this difficult situation. Last year, the Belgian also waited a long time for that one phone call. "I finally only got the message in mid-November that I could sign with Cofidis. Now I am much calmer than I was then. I hope that my manager can still find something. If not, then I will have to accept it," he sounds realistic.

Hermans' last victory dates back to August 2021, when he won a time trial in the Tour Poitou-Charentes. Winning is no longer the ambition of the veteran. "I'm past that point of being a leader. But I still want to race in a serving role. Not to keep a leader out of the wind for a hundred and fifty kilometres. That's not for me, but I can be a good helper uphill."

A kind of mentor role, that's what Hermans would like to see himself in. "An older rider can show the way. There's so much to learn." Yet young riders are increasingly left to their own devices these days, which is a big problem according to the Belgian. "In the past, if you had proven what you could do, teams always wanted to keep you. Now, team managers assume that young riders already know everything by themselves. Which is true to a certain extent: young guys know a lot more than we used to. But it's still valuable to have riders next to you who have already experienced it all. I hope that somewhere there's still a team that sees that too," Hermans concludes hopefully.