“I mainly look ahead and not at history” - Sep Vanmarcke on life as a sports director and early retirement from professional cycling

With several cobbled Classics fast approaching, former Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix podium finisher Sep Vanmarcke is preparing for the upcoming races in his new role as a sports director with Israel-Premier Tech.

The Belgian was forced into retirement last July, as a scan revealed scar tissue on his heart, which could have led to further complications after he had been suffering with an abnormally high heart race while riding.

In an interview with WielerFlits, Vanmarcke discussed how he feels about his new role in the team, as he said “that feels strange. Every time you come to a race, you think ‘last year I was at the start here’. The feeling of ‘I should have been here’ diminishes considerably. That’s over now and I can quite accept that. Now I mainly look ahead, and not at history”.

On how Israel-Premier Tech expects to get on in the next few races on the calendar, Vanmarcke said “I think it will be a learning process. There are still strong riders, but it becomes even more difficult for the deep finals of major classics. This should be possible in the finals of races such as Nokere Koerse, Classic Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem. We have a few men for races like the Tour of Flanders, such as Dylan Teuns”.

Vanmarcke then went on to talk about some of the young talents on the team, as he said “I think we should especially work with the young riders. We have various talents within the team there, whom I intensively coach and train. I take them on explorations and show them the way and tell them what to do. And other men like Tom Van Asbroek can help with that”.

On whether there were any names that we should be keeping an eye on for the Classics, Vanmarcke said “if I had to name anyone, it would be Riley Sheehan. He won Paris-Tours last year, but is now coming here to gain experience. I'm sure he has an engine for the future. Riley Pickrell is also one of those, so there are several riders I can work with. Derek Gee, who rode a strong Giro d’Italia last year, also has a big engine”.