Sep Vanmarcke

[6] Vanmarcke moved to Topsport Vlaanderen–Mercator midway through the 2009 season,[7] recording top-ten finishes at the Sparkassen Giro Bochum – eighth on his début with the team[7] – and the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen (sixth).

[10][11] Also in the first half of the year, Vanmarcke recorded further top-ten finishes at Dwars door Vlaanderen (seventh),[12] E3 Harelbeke (fifth),[13] and the Rogaland GP (third).

In the first part of 2013, Vanmarcke put his focus on the Classics, but he injured his knee in a crash at Tirreno–Adriatico, which effected his preparation for the first important one-day races of the season.

[40] Over the following two weekends, Vanmarcke finished third at the Tour of Flanders – being beaten by Sagan and Cancellara, after suffering from cramps on the Paterberg[41] – and fourth at Paris–Roubaix,[42] having featured in the race-defining breaks at both races.

Having started his 2017 season in Iberia with appearances at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana – where he crashed twice[46] – and the Volta ao Algarve, Vanmarcke finished third at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad,[46] losing out in a sprint finish against Greg Van Avermaet and Peter Sagan, having forced the lead move on the final ascent of the Molenberg climb.

[46] Just as was the case in 2017, Vanmarcke's first podium of the 2018 season came with a third-place finish at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad; he had been part of a small group in the closing kilometres, unsuccessfully tried to chase down the race-winning solo attack by Michael Valgren, and was out-sprinted for second place by Łukasz Wiśniowski.

[51] These results led Vanmarcke to believe that he was a contender for the Tour of Flanders,[51] to be held the following weekend; however, he finished outside the top ten due to several crashes and a puncture.

[53] Over the remainder of the season, Vanmarcke took only one further top-five result, with a fifth-place finish coming at the Belgian National Road Race Championships in June.

[54] Vanmarcke started the 2019 season with a block of racing in France, finishing fifth overall at the Étoile de Bessèges,[55] before winning the opening stage of the Tour du Haut Var, recording his first victory since 2016.

[56][57] Vanmarcke's best result from the spring classics was a fourth-place finish at Paris–Roubaix,[58] and he did not reach the podium again until his victory at September's Bretagne Classic Ouest-France, where he was part of a lead group – along with Tiesj Benoot and Jack Haig – that formed with 21 kilometres (13 miles) remaining, before Vanmarcke made a solo attack in the final kilometre for his first UCI World Tour victory.

Vanmarcke won the mountains classification at the 2010 Four Days of Dunkirk
Vanmarcke leading Fabian Cancellara in the climax of the 2013 Paris–Roubaix . Cancellara out-sprinted Vanmarcke for the victory at the Roubaix Velodrome .
Vanmarcke at the 2016 Tour de France
Vanmarcke at the 2018 Tour de France
Vanmarcke chasing Bernhard Eisel at the 2010 Gent–Wevelgem ; Vanmarcke ultimately finished the race in second, behind Eisel.