Quinten Hermans reveals what really happened during bizarre US border ordeal: ‘They took it very seriously’

What was supposed to be a straightforward endurance session from Canada briefly turned into an encounter with US border officials, a pile of paperwork and even questions designed to establish whether the two Belgian professionals had links to a cartel.

Hermans and Benoot had been staying with the Belgian team in Bromont, around 80 kilometres east of Montréal and within riding distance of the United States. With a long training ride on the schedule, the pair decided to include a short stretch across the border.

They knew they were not entirely prepared for it.

“It was something innocent,” Hermans explained a week later to Sporza. “We come from Europe, of course, where you can cross into another country relatively freely.

“We thought we would include a little bit of America in our endurance ride. We knew we were not completely in order, but we were also fine with it if they refused us and we simply had to turn around.”

The problem was that Hermans and Benoot had not completed the required ESTA travel authorisation before reaching the border.

Team mate Alec Segaert first revealed the story on the Vals Plat podcast after the World Championships. According to Segaert, the pair arrived at a particularly small and quiet border crossing, only for what appeared to be a minor oversight to turn into a lengthy interrogation.

“They were stopped because they hadn’t filled in an ESTA beforehand,” Segaert said. “You need one even when you cross by bike.”

Instead of simply being told to return to Canada, Benoot and Hermans were kept at the border post for several hours while officials worked through the necessary procedures.

“The customs officers weren’t exactly amused,” Segaert said. “They were kept there for a few hours and had to fill in all kinds of documents.”

Hermans confirmed that US officials took their attempted crossing rather more seriously than the riders had expected.

“In America they didn’t take it quite so lightly,” he said.

“Our plan was simply to continue riding in Canada. We didn’t really see an issue with that, but in America they were quite strict because we had tried to cross.”

The unusual surroundings only added to the episode. Segaert said hardly any traffic passed through the remote crossing during the two or three hours his team mates were there.

He also joked that border officials went considerably further than simply checking their travel documents.

“They weren’t smuggling anything,” Segaert said. “But apparently they had to check they weren’t part of a cartel or something like that.”

Eventually, Hermans and Benoot were cleared to head back into Canada, although the planned American section of their ride was over before it had really begun.

“We had to fill in some papers and it took a little longer than expected,” Hermans said. “They took it very seriously.”

Benoot later found the funny side of the episode. His Strava title for the ride was a suitably dry summary of an American adventure that never really got started: “Mexico was already in sight.”