Sep Vanmarcke

Sep Vanmarcke (born 27 July 1988) is a Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2023 for and . On 7 July 2023, he announced his immediate retirement after a cardiac scan revealed scar tissue on his heart forcing him to stop racing.
Career
Vanmarcke was born in Kortrijk.
Garmin–Cervélo (2011–2012)
He took the biggest win of his career on the 2012 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, attacking fiercely twice. The first attack came on the Molenberg climb, thinning the field, and he attacked again on the 'Lange Munte' cobbled section to reduce the lead group to only two competitors, Juan Antonio Flecha and Tom Boonen. He outsprinted them to claim the victory.
Blanco Pro Cycling (2013–2016)
2013
In 2013, Vanmarcke was focusing on the Classics, but he injured his knee in a crash at Tirreno–Adriatico, which hindered his form for the first important one-day races of the season. He nonetheless participated in the Tour of Flanders, finishing 3 minutes in arrears of Fabian Cancellara. A week later, he finished second to Cancellara in Paris–Roubaix. He escaped with Stijn Vandenbergh after cobbled sector 6 but was joined later on by Cancellara and Zdeněk Štybar. On the cobbled section Carrefour de l'Arbre, Štybar and Vandenbergh were dispatched one-by-one because they collided with spectators. Vanmarcke lost the 2-man sprint contested in the velodrome and was emotional afterward, since he had come so close to victory.
2014
In 2014, Vanmarcke showed excellent form in the classics, with fourth place in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and third in Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne the following day. He also recorded top five finishes in E3 Harelbeke (fifth) and Gent–Wevelgem (fourth). In the Tour of Flanders, Vanmarcke was the only rider able to follow Cancellara's attack on the final climb of the Paterberg. The pair caught up with the two earlier escapees, Vandenbergh and Greg Van Avermaet. The race came down to a sprint between the four, with Cancellara emerging victorious ahead of Van Avermaet and Vanmarcke.
2015–2016
Vanmarcke failed to score a top 10 finish at the monuments in the 2015 season but placed 5th at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, 4th at Strade Bianche, 5th at E3 Harelbeke and 6th at Gent-Wevelgem.
In his final season at in 2016, Vanmarcke finished on the podium at the Tour of Flanders, and 4th at Paris–Roubaix. He was also 8th at E3 Harelbeke and finished 2nd at Gent–Wevelgem. He achieved his best result of the season at the Ster ZLM Toer winning stage 4 and the overall.
Cannondale–Drapac (2017–2020)
For the 2017 season, Vanmarcke returned to his former team that he had raced for in the 2011 and 2012 season. He finished 3rd at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but crashed out at the Tour of Flanders which also prevented him from starting in Paris–Roubaix. However he returned to the peloton later on in the season and almost won the National Road Race Championships.
Vanmarcke's first podium of the 2018 season came at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where he finished 3rd. He then went on to finish 7th at E3 Harelbeke before claiming 3rd at Dwars door Vlaanderen. At the Tour of Flanders, Vanmarcke was once again struck with bad luck as he punctured several times at the start of the race. He only finished 13th but, a week later at Paris–Roubaix he finished 6th. He finished 5th at the National Road Race Championships before lining up for his 5th Tour de France in July.
Israel Start-Up Nation
In October 2020, Vanmarcke signed a three-year contract with the team.
On 7 July 2023, Vanmarcke announced that he will end his career with immediate effect due to cardiac issues.
Major results
2006
4th Road race, National Junior Road Championships
2007
3rd Ronde Van Vlaanderen Beloften
6th Circuit de Wallonie
2008
2nd Kattekoers
6th La Côte Picarde
8th Ronde Van Vlaanderen Beloften
2009
3rd Kattekoers
3rd La Côte Picarde
4th Overall Tour du Haut-Anjou
1st Stage 1
5th Ronde Van Vlaanderen Beloften
6th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
8th Sparkassen Giro Bochum
2010
1st Mountains classification, Four Days of Dunkirk
2nd Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
2nd Gent–Wevelgem
3rd Ronde van het Groene Hart
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
9th Paris–Camembert
2011
4th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
2012
1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
3rd Rogaland GP
5th E3 Harelbeke
7th Dwars door Vlaanderen
2013
1st Grand Prix Impanis-Van Petegem
1st Grote Prijs Wase Polders
2nd Paris–Roubaix
2nd Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
5th Road race, National Road Championships
5th Overall Tour des Fjords
5th Rund um Köln
2014
1st Stage 3 Tour of Norway
3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
3rd Tour of Flanders
4th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
4th Gent–Wevelgem
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th E3 Harelbeke
5th Binche–Chimay–Binche
7th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
9th Overall Tour of Alberta
1st Stage 3
2015
4th Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
4th Strade Bianche
4th London–Surrey Classic
5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
5th E3 Harelbeke
6th Gent–Wevelgem
7th Münsterland Giro
2016
1st Overall Ster ZLM Toer
1st Stage 4
2nd Gent–Wevelgem
3rd Tour of Flanders
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Time trial, National Road Championships
8th E3 Harelbeke
9th Overall Tour du Poitou Charentes
2017
1st Points classification, Tour of Austria
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
4th Bretagne Classic
4th London–Surrey Classic
8th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
10th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
2018
3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen
5th Road race, National Road Championships
6th Paris–Roubaix
7th E3 Harelbeke
7th Paris–Tours
2019
1st Bretagne Classic
1st Stage 1 Tour du Haut Var
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
6th Trofeo Matteotti
9th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli
2021
2nd Overall Settimana Ciclistica Italiana
3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
4th Le Samyn
5th Tour of Flanders
2022
1st Maryland Cycling Classic
8th Grote Prijs Marcel Kint
2023
3rd Gent–Wevelgem
6th Nokere Koerse
10th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Classics results timeline
References
External links
Sep Vanmarcke's profile on Cycling Base
1988 births
Living people
Cyclists from Kortrijk
Belgian male cyclists