"They were really stringing me along and my entire autumn was ruined by it" - Q36.5 rescued Harm Vanhoucke after Lotto left him hanging

Harm Vanhoucke has gained plenty experience riding for the Belgian Lotto but after years with the team of Stéphane Heulot, the time to change outifts (again) arrived. It was not quite to Vanhoucke's liking, but the financial complications of his employer eventually lead the 27-year-old to find a deal with Q36.5 Pro Cycling.

"We made a verbal agreement in the Tour. I thought I would be able to sign fairly quickly afterwards," Vanhoucke tells Sporza about his negotiations with Lotto. “Until I heard that the team was no longer allowed to sign contracts, except for the minimum contracts. (…) It just kept going on and on. They were really stringing me along. They did say that it would be fine and that I shouldn’t be stressed."

Vanhoucke had a great first half of the 2024 season with top-5s at Classic Grand Besançon Doubs and Tour du Jura (both 1.1), followed by sixth place overall at the Tour de Hongrie (2.Pro) and finally a podium at the Mercan'Tour Classic (1.1). "But my entire autumn was ruined by it. I have a family and a house that needs to be paid off. When you're suddenly without a contract, you don't know what to do. The stress weighed so much on me. I did my training, but the stress took so much energy from me."

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We will see Vanhoucke back in the professional peloton next year, because Q36.5 came to him with a 'nice offer' late in the season. "And so I decided to leave. It really seemed like a team that is growing and that definitely wants to take very big steps. That appealed to me."

Vanhoucke will start his season on 7 February with the Muscat Classic, will then do the Tour of Oman and will then start the Spanish race with gravel - the Clásica Jaen. After that he will take a short break, because the birth of his second child – a girl – is expected during that period. "If everything goes well with the birth, I will then ride in the Ardèche and Drôme, the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali and the Tour of Hellas." The rest of his program will be figured out later.

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