As Paris-Roubaix approaches, Sep Vanmarcke is a rider on a mission in hell. The Israel Premier Tech rider is a genuine specialist on the cobbles. The 34-year old Belgian will once again look for eternal glory on Roubaix Sunday. It has been ten years since Vanmarcke went mano-a-mano with Fabian Cancellara at the 2013 Roubaix. In the two-man sprint in the velodrome, couldn't hold Cancellara to take the win, instead taking second place.
Vanmarcke has gone on to finish in the top-ten on five occasions, he has never finished lower than 23rd. After a solid Classics season including third place at Gent-Wevelgem, he's dreaming of a podium again.
"It was the first time I have done a Paris-Roubaix recon on a Friday as normally I do it on Thursday. And it makes a difference because if you do it on Thursday, you don't really know what to do on Friday anymore. You don't want to rest but you can't train too much so I actually liked it like this. It was muddier yesterday than I expected, especially as I drove the last 90 kilometers by car on Wednesday and it was all clean. Now, the first part was really muddy and the sector after the Arenberg was probably the cleanest sector as until then, it wasn't at all. Now it should dry up a bit before Sunday.
The dream is to be on the podium again, like I was ten years. It all depends on how the race goes. If you feel you get the maximum out of the race and get a good result, you will be happy. If you feel like you have the best legs of the whole season and you get a flat tire at the worst possible moment, you will be disappointed. But that's Paris-Roubaix."
-Sep Vanmarcke
"Sep is our number one leader and we have a lot of confidence in him to deliver a great result on Sunday. The key to a successful Paris-Roubaix is all about having numbers in the final and less so about having good luck but rather, avoiding bad luck. Alongside Sep, we have strong guys like Guillaume Boivin and Tom Van Asbroeck, both of whom finished in the top-ten in 2021, and riders like Rick Zabel, Jens Reynders, and our two debutants Itamar Einhorn and Derek Gee for positioning and lead-outs into the cobbles. We have a strong and experienced team and we'll give it everything on Sunday."
-Steve Bauer
Comments