'He hid well' - Hermans acknowledges Alaphilippe's race craft in Québec
The 30-year-old Belgian showed plenty of positive signs on Friday at the Grand Prix de Québec, improving on his previous best of 13th place from two years ago
Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished 6th in the Grand Prix de Québec, after a strong showing, having made the crucial race-winning group with around 70km remaining, which included the eventual winner Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor).
In the end, Hermans came out as the first Belgian finisher on the day ahead of the likes of Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), and Hermans reflected on the importance of anticipating early in the race and the enjoyment he found in doing so.
"It's really fun to ride like this," Hermans told WielerFlits after the race. "It was worth anticipating today. Before the start, I told the rest of the team not to wait until the final lap, because then we'd be led to the slaughter by Tadej Pogacar."
In some senses, Hermans was right, as the World Champion Pogačar launched a vicious acceleration on the penultimate ascent of the Côte de la Montagne, drawing a small group clear; however, Hermans and Co were still too far ahead, even for the Slovenian to catch.
Up front, things became tactical on the final lap ahead of the climb, and ultimately it was Alaphilippe, Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) who broke away and would finish as the final podium.
"On the final lap, everyone started to leave a gap. Ultimately, the three strongest riders broke away," Hermans explained, who sprinted to 6th place behind Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious), holding off the marauding peloton by a mere three seconds.
Hermans also acknowledged the race craft of the former two-time World Champion Alaphilippe, who kept his powder dry until it mattered most. "He didn't really put in much work and hid well. He has every right to do that. He's a strong rider, but he reaped the rewards of hiding."
For Hermans, the block of Canadian one-day races will serve as fine preparation as he heads to Rwanda for the road race world championships, where he will represent the Belgian team for the third time as an elite, with Remco Evenepoel looking to take the rainbow jersey that he won in 2022 in Wollongong, Australia.
It also marks the end of an era for Hermans, who will move on to pastures new in 2026, after three successful seasons with Alpecin-Deceuninck. The 30-year-old will link up with fellow cyclocross star Tom Pidcock at an ambitious Q36.5 team, who have also announced the signings of Hermans’s current teammate Xandro Meurisse, Eddie Dunbar, Fred Wright, Chris Harper, and Belgian compatriots Brent Van Moer and Aimé De Gendt.
