Sep Vanmarcke finished eleventh in Paris-Roubaix, the ‘Hell of the North’ behind German winner John Degenkolb of Giant-Alpecin.
 
Vanmarcke’s teammates assisted him until late in the race by keeping their leader out of the wind and positioned. Things went south kilometres from the Roubaix Velodrome, right after an acceleration on the Bourghelles sector, when Vanmarcke punctured.
 
Tom Van Asbroeck and Maarten Wynants brought the Belgian back into the group of favourites, but the extra effort didn’t make things easier for Vanmarcke. He was unable to follow when Yves Lampaert (Etixx) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) attacked in the final ten kilometres, joined by Degenkolb, then Zdenek Stybar (Etixx) and a group with Lars Boom.
 
“I flatted exactly when my finale started,” Vanmarcke explained.
 
“I’d just split up the group with an attack and felt strong. I wanted to give my everything one more time and I thought that not many would be able to go with me, but destiny decided otherwise, and not for the first time this spring.”
 

Vanmarcke had hoped to get in the mix for a classic victory prior to the season, but every time, something went wrong.
 
“Every time when it was crunch time this spring, something happened to me. It’s actually been a very annoying spring, it was a spring of bad luck. I’ve become stronger, but I haven’t been able to show it.”
 

“The team was superb today. I was happy Tom and Maarten were there for me when I punctured. Thanks to them, I was able to reconnect with the front group, but because of the huge effort, I couldn’t really do more than just chase.
 
“I tried to make the most of the sprint and I think there isn’t much shame in finishing behind Kristoff. I left with my head held high.”
 

Sports Director Nico Verhoeven was disappointed by his leader’s bad luck during the race. “We were on our way to a good result with Sep, but a flat tire at a bad moment cost us dearly. In a race like Roubaix, you just can’t have any misfortune.
 
“Sep couldn’t do his thing anymore because of the extra effort. Due to the puncture, we practically lost Tom and Maarten as well. We were still in the mix with three men at that moment, but because of Sep’s flat tire we needed to sacrifice them.”