"I knew I would have to fight very hard for my place when I signed" - Florian Vermeersch left out from Tour nomination

Florian Vermeersch played a crucial role in Tadej Pogacar's successful spring, being a part of the lineup at UAE Tour and then tagging along with the Slovenian through most of the Classics.

Naturally, the 26-year-old would then hope to make the UAE Team Emirates - XRG selection for the Tour de France this spring, but those doors seem closed at the moment.

"Every cyclist wants to be part of a team that has a chance to win the Tour. So of course I would love to win the Tour with Tadej one day, I'm not going to make a secret of that. But when I signed with the team last year, I knew very well that I would have to fight very hard for my place."

Vermeersch joined some of the riders from the Tour selection in a recent altitude camp in Sierra Nevada, he tells Het Nieuwsblad. "I really enjoyed it there. We enjoyed ourselves and also trained really hard. I hope that the training camp will pay off now."

Although the Belgian is not in the selection at the moment, he'll be ready to step in if another rider drops out. "How many reserve am I? That's hard to say. Suppose Adam Yates drops out, they won't call me, right? If someone drops out who has the same profile as me, they will." Then we're talking about someone like Tim Wellens or Nils Politt.

The team in France will be of course led by none other than Pogacar. The world champion had only words of praise towards Vermeersch's work this spring. "It is true that he is satisfied with me and that is very nice to hear. But he was also very satisfied with the entire spring team, because we have had a fantastic spring."

And the two men seem to get along well also off the bike. "I have already told many people: Tadej and I have a good connection. He is a very pleasant and social guy, I can't say a bad word about him."