“I already experienced the same thing last fall, says the former winner of the Tour of Oman and the Brabant Arrow. Twelve months ago, I was much more stressed in this context, because I had not been able to express myself in the last part of the season due to a heavy fall which had caused me several fractures. I then had the feeling of not being the true pilot of my destiny. It was only in mid-November that I was able to join Cofidis for a year. My lease with the French WorldTour structure is therefore coming to an end, but I am approaching the situation more calmly. I still really want to remain a professional rider, but I am aware of having the chance to already have a career of sixteen seasons in the pro peloton behind me.”
gullNot a job where you apply by CV or on LinkedIn.
An important chapter in his existence that the former runner at BMC or RadioShack does not wish to prolong at all costs. “Cyclist, it’s not really a job for which you send CVs or apply on LinkedIn (laughs)…At least in my eyes. I have a manager who is responsible for studying the possibilities available to me. It’s his job and I don’t see myself knocking on the doors of all the team managers to beg for a place in their squad. And I don’t want to. I am 38 years old and am aware of the risks inherent in the daily life of a professional runner. I fell enough to measure it (laughter)… So I am not willing to sign for a minimum wage contract for example (Editor’s note: €35,000 gross in a pro continental team, €44,000 in WorldTour for a rider who is not neopro). I have transmitted my conditions to my manager for whom I am not making the task any easier, since I myself have undoubtedly reduced the field of possibilities as a result. But, at 38, I know that it is much healthier to be truly wanted in a team rather than to fill a squad in which you are sometimes there only to make up the numbers…”
gullExperience no longer has the same value.”
Father of two children, Ben Hermans still has the fire of passion burning within him. “In 2024, I financed several altitude courses myself in order to best prepare myself for certain objectives (Editor’s note: 14th in the Tour of Poland for example). I loved continuing to do the job fully as they say in the jargon, because I didn’t know if it was my last season as a pro or not. If things were to stop, I would not experience it with bitterness. I haven’t really set myself an ultimatum, I’m more of a person anchored in the present moment. Maybe tomorrow I’ll tell myself that it’s time to hang up or maybe it will be in a month if I still don’t have a concrete path to professional continental training. I think I can still bring something to a collective, I continue to train to be in working order in case things go wrong. But I am also fully aware of the trends in our discipline. Today, teams often prefer to try to discover the new Pogacar rather than betting on a guy who is approaching forty. Experience no longer has the same value as it did a few years ago when a name and a route were enough to ensure a place in the peloton until we decided to hang the bike on the nail …”
Tom Paquot (Intermarché Wanty) recounts his season in anecdotes: “I had to put Lilian Calmejane fully clothed in the shower”
