Quinten Hermans, fresh from winning the Tour of the Baloise Belgians and finishing second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège this season, is confident that he will be on the Intermarché Wanty-Gaubert roster for the Tour de France and has already booked his flight He had already booked his flight. Surprisingly, however, the team did not select the Belgian.

According to Sporza.be (opens in new tab), Hermans learned of his exclusion just before the team's roster was announced on Monday evening.

"At first I thought it was a call to see how I was doing, because I was leaving tomorrow and had a flight booked. But then I got some bad news," Hermans told Belgian News, adding that he never received an explanation for his omission.

"I didn't expect this. But at 5:30 p.m. I got a call from the performance manager, Ike Visbeek."

"I'm not exactly sure why I had to stay home. But I am sure it has nothing to do with sports. I am very sorry."

Hermans is rumored to be moving to Mathieu Van Der Pol's team, which will become Alpecin Deceuninck next season, and will almost certainly be promoted to the World Tour.

When asked if this was a factor, Hermans declined to speculate; the official UCI transfer window does not open until August 1, but contracts are often signed before or during the Tour de France and are documented only when the rules allow. 'I don't want to confirm. It's not said in those terms, but one plus one is still two, right?"

Hermans suggested.

The team suggested that the atmosphere within the Tour de France team might be worse because of Hellmann's departure. I've always been a rider that the team liked," he said, "and I've always been a rider that the team liked. I don't feel that way and neither do the other players. They were shocked."

Hermans is not the only high-profile rider left out of the 2022 Tour de France. Mark Cavendish, who won 34 stages in the Tour de France and was one step short of the record set by Eddy Merckx, did not make the Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl team; Sam Bennett, winner of the green jersey and two stages in 2020, did not make the team; and the 2022 Tour de France winner, Jacques Bolla Hansgrohe, "was not on the team, not made the Bora-Hansgrohe squad.