Quinten Hermans shares point of view regarding Tour de France drama and how team relationship evolved.

Quinten Hermans' non-selection for the Tour de France was a topic of much discussion last month as the team's announced their lineups, and although it seems water under the bridge for the Belgian, he has described how that decision came to be in his point of view.

“As you know, I was disappointed and very angry when Aike gave me the bad news. It came unexpectedly, even knowing I was going to change teams," Hermans explained in an interview with Wielerflits. "I tried to convince him, but quickly realized that the decision was irrevocable".

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Due to difficulties with contract negotiations and a team managed Aike Visbeek saying that "it has been chaos with Quinten since November," the decision came to leave the Belgian - who would have a leader role at the Tour chasing stage wins - home during July came as a shock to many. Although the team did not succeed on that mission, Louis Meintjes' eighth place in the overall classification has the team with a positive balance.

“It quickly became clear to me that this was a decision from above and that not everyone agreed with the decision. But that's how it goes when choices have to be made, I think," he argued. Having negotiation issues influencing race selections is still alive in cycling, with Hermans being a strong example of that this year. 

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After taking time off, Hermans went on an altitude camp where he had teammates alongside in Livigno, preparing for the final months of the road season. He reported a sense of ease after being welcomed by riders and staff from the team after having feelings of being left out.

Although he's likely to complete the season racing with the team, he does not yet have a planned schedule. The cyclocross season will surely be a big target aswell which may see the Belgian have few race days on the road left this year, and with a change of teams coming up this winter it will be a busy period for the multi-talented rider.

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