"I hope that I will be there" - Quinten Hermans ready to compete for stage wins if selected at the Tour de France

For just the second time in his career, Quinten Hermans could be set to ride a Grand Tour at the upcoming Tour de France. Following an encouraging Tour de Suisse, the Belgian's preparations are complete. Now, he just waits for a call.

"The whole spring has of course gone well. There was some bad luck for me, but the atmosphere has been good all year and the weather was nice in a nice location. Everyone is looking forward to doing the Tour together," the 27-year-old told In de Leiderstrui. "It is anyway, that we do the preparation with ten guys. That's two guys too many, so you can always lose weight. There are always some setbacks and it is also possible that there will be a fight for the last place, but of course, I hope that I will be there. We'll see, the preparation is well done anyway."

Hermans' only previous Grand Tour came in 2021 at the Giro d'Italia. After missing out on selection for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team last year, he now hopes he'll get a chance to battle it out for stage wins alongside the likes of teammate Mathieu van der Poel. "What will the final choice be based on? That depends on several things: how the team sees it tactically," he explains. "You might as well fall and can't compete, so you always have to get ten guys ready. Although the central question is how we can win as many stages as possible."

"If I'm not there, I'll go on vacation. But then I trust that they will say that in time, so not like last year," Hermans continues. "The first two stages in the Basque Country are already quite difficult. I have already ridden several times and that is really tough, but it is also something that men like Mathieu van der Poel can still survive. I look forward."