Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale-Drapac) will not start Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, his team have announced. The Belgian crashed during the Tour of Flanders and suffered heavy road rash in addition to a broken finger. Vanmarcke who has three top 5s at Paris-Roubaix on his palmares, made the decision mid-day Wednesday.
“My hands are the biggest problem,” Vanmarcke said. “The broken pinky on my right hand makes it impossible to put my hands on top of the bars. I can put them on the brakes, and I can brake with two fingers. But each time I hit a bump or anything, it’s painful.
“The larger problem is my left hand, because the skin is off every finger. I cannot brake with that hand — it’s just too painful to put the pressure on it. Also, my right knee is still a problem. It would make no sense to be at the start line. I lost a lot of skin off it.”
The decision caps a spring season of discontent for Vanmarcke. He finished third on opening weekend at Omloop but ultimately suffered from crashes and stomach illness thereafter.
“I’m really, really disappointed. I start training for these races on the first of November. My focus is always on these races. Omloop went well, but from Strade Bianche I started to go wrong. A crash, the ribs, then I had the stomach problems, then this crash. So I’ve been fighting a lot, and always coming back,” Vanmarcke said. “It’s a disappointment. I was never on my top level, and I could never show what level I was at.”
American Taylor Phinney, who sustained a minor concussion during the Tour of Flanders, is still under consideration for Paris-Roubaix. The team will make a decision on its roster after it completes its reconnaissance training of the French pavé on Thursday. According to the team’s internal concussion protocols, Paris-Roubaix would be the first time Phinney is eligible to race again.
