"It wasn’t the way we wanted to race" - Vanmarcke opens up about Israel's battle for UCI points and how it changes racing

Israel - Premier Tech have been relegated - although it is yet to be fully official. Several riders in the team have criticized the system and made it clear of the difficulties that came with it, Sep Vanmarcke has been no exception.

“It changed my program a lot, and it changed the way of racing, too," Vanmarcke said in conversation with Cyclingnews. "At one point, it became more important to have a second or third guy sprinting also, which is something you normally would never do. Normally you would go all-in for one guy to try to win, but this changed the tactics. In that way, I’ll be happy to go back to the normal way of racing next year.

Next year however, will see Israel begin their fight for the UCI points necessary to try and regain their World Tour position in 2026. His contract with the team ends in 2023, and Vanmarcke shows little intention of wanting to go back to the points-seeking style of racing.

“The whole summer was really strange," he said. "It wasn’t the way we wanted to race, but the focus was a lot towards the points. Everybody prefers to race for the win and to get results, and not to worry about the points the whole time. In this way, it’s nice that the season is over.” Eventually, the Israeli team could not save itself, finishing in 20th spot in the three-year rankings, with Arkéa Samsic and Alpecin-Deceuninck finishing ahead and taking the World Tour spots.

Israel - Premier Tech will have automatic invited for the one-day races however, which the Belgian prioritizes. “It's always nicer to be part of the WorldTour, but for me, very personally, it doesn’t change so much, because I know we’re invited for all the one-day races,”

“But, of course, there’s also the GC part of the team, and they will struggle more with invitations if we cannot just automatically go to all the races. All the climbers of the team will face more difficulties." Chris Froome for example, has expressed his urge to still fight for the Tour de France, but the team's presence is all but assured.

“On a personal level, it hasn’t been a good season for me. In the summer and autumn, I always had a good level, but the results didn’t come liked I wanted,” he continued. After being sick, and the team suffering several casualties from Covid-19, Vanmarcke could not even participate in the cobbled classics' monuments. It was a disappointing spring, and year, if it weren't for a surprising win at the Maryland Cycling Classic which broke a three-year dry streak.

“But even if there wasn’t a full WorldTour field in Maryland, that was still a very hard race, and it was important for the confidence that I could still win. From then on, I felt freer in the head. That gives me motivation to come back next year," he said.

Vanmarcke rode 50 race days this year, being that a whole 31 were one-day races. “The changing of landscape is already going on for a while, but I don’t mind. When the superheroes of cycling come to ride these races, it only makes for a more powerful and a more beautiful race. I’m happy to see them come more often to Belgium," he concluded.