Sep Vanmarcke was one of the big favourites in yesterday's E3 Harelbeke but a massive amount of bad luck left him with no power on the Oude Kwaremont when the decisive attack was launched. He still managed to recover sufficiently to be the best of the rest in 6th.

Sep Vanmarcke managed to take fifth in E3-Harelbeke on Friday despite a lot of bad luck. The Belgian leader of the Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM was forced to dig deep to return to the front of the race a couple of times because of misfortune. Despite perfect support from his team-mates, he wasn’t able to follow winner Peter Sagan’s attack with three others. 

“I just had a lot of bad luck today,” said Vanmarcke. “The team, however, supported me perfectly every time I had to chase. In the final, on the Oude Kwaremont, I was suffering a lot and when Fabian Cancellara and Stijn Devolder tried to bridge to the leaders, I was only able to follow. I couldn’t really do my turns, which was of course unfortunate. 

“On the Tiegemberg I felt better and so I could pull away from the chasing group and take the fifth place, which was the maximum for me. I hope to keep going like this and to be good in the upcoming races.” 

During the first half of the E3 Harelbeke everything seemed to be going just fine for the Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM. The riders were at the front on the crucial points and escaped several crashes. After 120 kilometres, however, the riders were struck by bad luck. First Jetse Bol and Tom Leezer suffered mechanicals and shortly after Maarten Wynants crashed. 

“The first half of the course was uneventful and the boys did what they had to do, but suddenly we lost three men,” said Sports Director Nico Verhoeven. 

Vanmarcke got hit by Wynants when he crashed, but thanks to good handling he was able to stay upright, although he still had to chance bikes. When the Belgian returned, he punctured and was caught behind a big crash in the peloton. In total, the Belgian had to chase three times. 

“But he managed to make his way back every time, which was a miracle, although it had cost him a lot of energy,” said Verhoeven. “Eventually he finished fifth, which made him best of the rest. It was the best possible result today and so we have to be satisfied. 

“The way Sep and the team raced gives us morale for the upcoming races. If things had happened according to plan, Sep probably would have been up there with Sagan and the other three...” 

Maarten Wynants appears to be OK despite his crash.

“We have to wait and see how he will wake up tomorrow, but I’m hopeful that it won’t be too bad,” explained Verhoeven.