There are few riders who have raced through as many eras of Classics rivalries as Sep Vanmarcke. From the famous battles of Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen, to the dominance of the likes of Peter Sagan and Greg van Avermaet, to today’s Big Three super talents of Tadej Pogačar, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, Vanmarcke has been through it all. Perhaps most impressively, the 34-year-old has managed to get on the podium throughout the Classics in every one of these iconic eras.
After a season marred with illness last year, in 2023 has seen a return to Vanmarcke fighting for results in some of the toughest one-day races in Belgium. After top-10 finishes in both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Nokere-Koerse, the Israel-Premier Tech rider’s consistency was rewarded in Gent-Wevelgem, where he “won the race for third”, as he puts it, behind Jumbo Visma’s Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte. In an era where the trend in the professional men’s peloton appears to generally be that younger riders are performing at a higher level than ever before, Vanmarcke is proof that the old guard still has plenty to offer.
“At the end of Gent-Wevelgem, I was so happy because last year was so bad and in the spring I didn’t even have the level of an average rider, so that was not motivating,” Vanmarcke explains, speaking a few days before the 2023 edition of Paris-Roubaix. “Last year I said to myself, I want to prove to myself that I’m still a good rider. If I cannot do anything anymore in cycling, then I prefer to stop than to continue. I was happy I could prove for myself that I could still be up there. I’m still valuable in the team, that was a big relief. The Jumbo guys were away and I won the race for third.”
Vanmarcke’s good form continued into the Tour of Flanders a few days ago, where he secured a top-25 finish in a group with the likes of Laporte, Yves Lampaert and John Degenkolb. The Belgian describes his result as “realistic” in today’s peloton, which he notes has changed hugely since his career began.
“Five years ago, I actually predicted what has happened now. I said that in a few years from now, there will be more and more light guys coming to the Classics like climbers or Ardennes guys,” Vanmarcke explains. “In Flanders, over the last 10 years, the course has changed. It’s a much harder course than in the past and that was needed. Now, they go faster and faster. For many people, it’s even more important to be…