Sep Vanmarcke to lead Team Garmin-Barracuda at the Tour of Flanders
Team Garmin -Barracuda has shown faith in Sep Vanmarcke and the cyclist will lead the side at the Tour of Flanders 2012.
The team is desperately in need of a victory and is looking ahead to mark a perfect start under the leadership of the young Belgian.
Robert Hunter helped the team with its first win of the season after his splendid performance during the South African Road Race.
Sep finished first during the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad after a photo-finish victory over Tom Boonen and Juan Antonio Flecha.
Heinrich Haussler, Greg Van Avermaet and Marco Marcato finished at the fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
Vanmarcke finished fifth at the E3 Harelbeke and is optimistic to fill his bag with the biggest win of the season at the Belgian race.
Jonathan Vaughters explained to Cyclingnews, "Sep is going to be the sole leader in Flanders. With the parcours this year, it's a race of attrition and strength, not tactics".
"The best chance is to focus on the strongest rider, as opposed to playing a broader tactic, like you can in Roubaix".
"Sep will have to be a bit better than he was in E3 in order to contend. He was the only guy that could follow Boonen's attacks, but just barely".
"In Flanders he'll need another two per cent, or he'll need to be very intelligent and miserly with his energy," he concluded.
The 23-year-old started riding professionally with Team Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator in 2010 and joined Team Garmin-Cervelo in 2011.
Vanmarcke claimed his first professional victory at during the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque 2010.
He succeeded at the mountain’s classifications of the race and also achieved the second position at the Gent-Wevelgem.
Sep’s only commendable performance in 2011 came during the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke.
He had to settle for the fourth position despite his superb performances. Vanmarcke is keen to set an example by finishing at the podium during the coming event.
Tour de Flanders is the eighth biggest race of the season scheduled on April 1, 2012.
The winner of the race will be awarded with a 100 UCI points while the second and the third position holders will be credited with 80 and 70 points, respectively.
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