Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale-Drapac) was an outside favourite for Sunday's Tour of Flanders, having twice finished on the podium in the Ronde and once in Paris-Roubaix, but a crash descending the Muur put an end to his hopes for victory.
Vanmarcke moved from the LottoNL-Jumbo team to Cannondale-Drapac this year, hoping to be better supported in his races. A serious crash in the Montepaschi Stradebianche disrupted his build-up towards the Flemish classics, then during Dwars door Vlaanderen, Vanmarcke struggled to go deep. During the E3 Harelbeke he joined the lead group with a fierce acceleration but then started throwing up.
He skipped Gent-Wevelgem and hoped to be OK for Flanders. Vanmarcke appeared to be on good form, riding attentively near the front on the Muur and featuring in a star-studded lead group that formed on the famous climb, despite the finish still being 95 kilometres away.
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Forty kilometres later, Gilbert rode away from Vanmarcke and the rest of the group on the Oude Kwaremont. Still, Vanmarcke was in a good position, but that turned around on the descent towards the following Paterberg climb. Vanmarcke lost control of his bike, crashed and took down Luke Rowe (Team Sky) with him. He was clearly in a lot of pain and abandoned the race.
"It’s all going the wrong way during this spring season," Vanmarcke told Sporza, seemingly holding back the tears.
When asked what happened, the 28-year-old blamed the bumpy roads. "It’s my own fault because I crash alone. I get stuck into the section in the middle. My right-hand side is all bruised up and my pinky might be broken. It’s all swollen too. I lost a lot of skin," Vanmarcke said before riding off.
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