In the circumstances, it was a third-place finish that felt like a victory. As if to underline the fact, Sep Vanmarcke (Israel Premier Tech) punched the air in celebration when he crossed the finish line at the end of a rain-soaked Gent-Wevelgem. He has had better results in this part of the world, but few as reassuring.
Almost two minutes had passed since Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte had rolled home arm in arm, but the Jumbo-Visma pair had already reduced this edition of Gent-Wevelgem to a strictly inhouse affair when they forged clear on the Kemmelberg with 55km remaining.
Vanmarcke and the men left trailing behind them soon resigned themselves to a contest for the remaining podium place, with the unwieldy chasing group repeatedly splitting and reforming on the long run-in to Wevelgem.
From the moment the race passed beneath the towers and spires of Ypres, scarcely visible on a day when West Flanders was draped in wintry cloud, Vanmarcke was constantly trying to force an opening. He ultimately jumped on Frederik Frison’s determined move approaching the finish, and he then had the strength fend off the Lotto-Dstny man and the Danish pair of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) to take third.
“The two guys in front were already long gone and I never thought about those two. I was just focusing on getting a good result for me and the team,” Vanmarcke told Cyclingnews in the mixed zone afterwards. “In the end, I saw that the sprinters got tired, and everybody started to gamble. In the last 15-20k, I felt like I had to keep on attacking and following groups because at one point it would split.
“When Frison went, I went with him immediately. Pedersen came back, but he had to spend a lot of energy to catch us, which was perfect. He launched the sprint from faraway, but I could use him as a lead-out and take third place for myself.”
As a neo-professional, Vanmarcke first highlighted his potential as a Classics rider by placing second behind Bernhard Eisel in this very race, and he would again take second in 2016, beaten only by Peter Sagan. By that point, Vanmarcke appeared on the cusp of a Monument breakthrough, with near misses at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but the grandest prizes have seemed to inch further from his reach in recent seasons. Sunday’s performance offered some welcome reassurance for the 34-year-old.
“The whole season I’ve been feeling well and racing on a high level but just missing that last bit, so I was thinking that maybe this is what I have left in my tank now, this is my best level,” Vanmarcke admitted. “Today proves that if you continue and keep trying for the best, at one point you get a great result. It’s a big relief for me and the team because everybody put a big effort in.”
In the second half of last season, Vanmarcke found himself racing conservatively for placings as part of Israel-Premier Tech’s vain attempt to secure the UCI points needed to retain WorldTour status. Their relegation from the top flight has lifted some of that immediate pressure to score points, and Vanmarcke was free to take risks as he looked to win the contest for third place here.
At this point of the year in this corner of the world, thoughts always tend to drift towards the Tour of Flanders. After a dozen successive participations in his first twelve years as a professional, Vanmarcke was forced to miss last year’s Ronde due to illness. He returns to the race next week with his confidence restored, even if he was pragmatic about his place in a Classics firmament where Van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar appear to outshine all others.
“We have to be honest,” Vanmarcke said. “The best guys are still far away from us, but I think for next weekend I can still have a good result.
“If you can finish third in a race like Gent-Wevelgem, and certainly in today's weather conditions, then you should also be able to get a good result in the Tour of Flanders. This third place here gives me a good feeling for the Ronde.”
