Following critical comments in the Belgian press, Kevin Seeldraeyers' contract with the Astana team wasn't renewed and the Belgian has been unable to find a new team for 2014. Still feeling that he has the ability to compete with the best in the mountains, he can't imagine that he won't find a new employer for the coming season.

Kevin Seeldraeyers was riding really well in the month of June when he finished 3rd on a stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné and the Belgian climber was hoping that his good form would earn him a selection for the Astana Tour de France roster. When the line-up was announced, his name was missing and he publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision.

He couldn't have done more to prove to the team selectors that he deserved a selection when he won two mountain stages and the points and mountains jersey in the Tour of Austria which was run concurrently with the Tour but at that point he had already fallen from grace with his team. In the second half of the season, he was only selected for three races and was quickly told that his contract would not be renewed.

Despite his strong showing in Austria and his past performances in the Giro where he won the white jersey as best young rider in 2009, Seeldraeyers has been unable to land a contract with a new team and now finds himself in a situation where time is running out on a market that is already loaded with great cycling talent. He knows that he can't expect too much from a new employer but is still puzzled by the fact that no team has shown much interest in his talents.

"Immediately after the Tour I realized that I should not count on a pay increase in this economic climate but it is inconceivable that I still haven't found a team for 2014 in mid-October I would have no team for 2014," he told Gazet van Antwerpen. "In a normal world I would have signed a contract after my good performances in the Tour of Turkey, the Dauphine and the Tour of Austria."

"Apparently, cycling is not a normal world. Many people forget how good I was in Austria. Unfortunately, that race was held at the same time as the Tour de France and so Jan Bakelants took all the attention from the media."

Seeldraeyers is a strong climber but doesn't expect a leadership role. He hopes to get the chance to sign with Lotto Belisol whose grand tour leader Jurgen Van Den Broeck has often been isolated in the mountains.

"In principle, I would fit well into Lotto Belisol as I am sure that Jurgen Van Den Broeck could use some help in the mountains," he said. "I am willing to sacrifice my own chances in the service of a leader.  But apparently I'm still too expensive."

"I cannot imagine that I won't find a team for 2014," he added. "The powerlessness is the hard part, the fact that I can't influence my own destiny. I just continue to believe in a good outcome."

Seeldraeyers joined Astana in 2012.