In 2022, following a breakthrough campaign with podium finishes in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Baloise Belgian Tour, Quinten Hermanns will be looking for more success in Norway's Arctic Circle Race, and the Intermarke - Wanty - Govert Matériaux affiliation era The beginning of the end is about to begin.

In addition to his stage wins in Belgium, the Belgian, who has six top-five finishes on the season, will be looking for an overall win in the Pro Series this week.

With only a few months left on his contract with the Belgian team before moving to Alpecin-Desseuninck in 2023, a summit finish on Saturday's third stage is his goal.

"I'll do my best. I'm going to try," Hermans told Cycling News on Friday. 'It won't be easy, but yes. Yesterday I lost a lot of energy keeping warm.

"It's a good finish for me," Hermans said. 'It's hard to look at all the different teams and figure out which teams and riders are going for GC. Some of the guys who were looking forward to tomorrow, yesterday they backed off a little bit or lost some time, and I think that's a good sign.

Hermans raced at the continental level for Telenet Fidea Lions (now Baloise Trek Lions) before moving to his current team in 2020.

After completing his most comprehensive road campaign to date this season, Hellmans' career will now be one-way, he said. Cyclocross will take a back seat to his road ambitions.

"I can still do cyclocross, but it's not my main thing. Don't expect much more from cyclocross.

"Everything has gone better this year, it's not that I've gained an extra five percent, it's just that everything has gone a little bit better. That makes a big difference in pro cycling."

Hermans, who made his Grand Tour debut at last year's Giro d'Italia (his best result was fifth place from a breakaway on stage 15), has not been selected for the Grand Tour this time. His omission from the team's Tour de France squad came as a surprise, and the 28-year-old said at the time that it had "nothing to do with sport" amid rumors of a future move.

Despite his disappointment, Hermans was handed a "good program" to conclude his three years at Intermarque Wanty-Gobert, with the Tour de Pollogne and the Arctic Circle race, and the Italian Classics in September and October.

"When asked about not racing in the Grand Tour in 2022, he replied, "That's a little disappointing." 'I was supposed to be in the Tour and now it's gone. I didn't have the option of going to the Vuelta."

"It's a shame," he said.

"After this, I demanded a clear program until the end of the year. The team was very sincere and gave me a program until the end of October, OK, I think this is good, we can continue together with a contract until January 1, the team treats me well, I just went to return it

"It was a good three years. I think there is no doubt that in the last two years we have taken a step forward. The atmosphere in the team is getting better and better. If you keep the winning spirit from the beginning of the season, it will last forever.

Hermans was pessimistic about the possibility of representing Belgium at the UCI Road World Championships in Australia, but was more hopeful about the next three seasons in Alpecin-Desseuninck and his continued growth on the hill and medium mountain. He was hopeful.

"The athletes at Alpecin de Seuninck were really interested," he said. I have a clear program." So for me, all these little things made a difference."

"I think I can still take steps forward. I think we can still take a step forward, and it's up to the teams to decide which calendar I'm going to race on, and they'll try to give me the best race possible. Let's see what they come up with."

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