"We will see a better version of myself this year" - Alpecin-Deceuninck's Quinten Hermans confident ahead of 2025

Quinten Hermans is preparing for a big season on the road after skipping cyclocross for the first time this winter. Speaking at the Alpecin-Deceuninck media day to Cyclism’actu, the 29-year-old discussed his goals, race programme, and ambitions for the year ahead.

"Good, I think," he said when asked about his winter. "This is the first time I don't do cyclocross this winter, so I had a long preparation for the road season. Of course, we found some axes where I could improve and gain some percentages. I think we managed to do that and we will see a better version of myself this year."

Hermans had a breakthrough victory in 2023, winning stage 3 of the Tour of the Basque Country, marking his first WorldTour win. He also came close to a major triumph in the Ardennes, finishing second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2022. Looking ahead to 2025, he has clear objectives in mind.

"My first goal (for 2025) is definitely to win another WorldTour victory, like I did last year (in the Tour of the Basque Country) for the first time. One more would be great. And my second is to win a Grand Tour. It probably won't be the Tour de France, but the Giro or La Vuelta would already be great. After having come close to victory last year it would be great to achieve that."

Last season, Hermans competed in both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, and he expects to follow a similar schedule this year. "Neither of the two Grand Tours is confirmed yet. But it will probably be the Giro to start, and then we will evaluate some details to see if I can do the Tour of Spain. But yes, I would like to do as many Grand Tours as possible."

Hermans' season kicks off this weekend at the Figueira Champions Classic, followed by the Tour of Algarve. "It's always difficult to know where I am physically right after the altitude training, but I hope I'll have good legs right away to try to get a good result there.

“Then I'll do the Strade Bianche, the Tour of Catalonia and the Tour of the Basque Country before the Ardennes. I want to be the best I can be in this period, I hope to have a good start to the season. Obviously the Ardennes classics are my biggest goal for this first part, and even for the season, but I want to be ready and as good as possible from the first races."

Although his focus is on the road, Hermans remains interested in gravel racing. "Of course I would like to do the Gravel World Championship again at the end of the year. But the first three months on the road are the most important for the team and are already planned, so I think it is almost impossible to do anything other than road at the moment.

“But maybe after that we can discuss it. I really like gravel, I think it is going to be something big in the future in cycling, so I want to participate if the conditions are right."