Sepp Vanmarcke, a member of Israel Premier Tech, has been known to suffer from bad luck throughout his career, including illness, injury, and crashes. This week, the Belgian rider was unlucky again, with the team announcing that he will miss Wednesday's Nokhele course due to illness.

The 33-year-old Vanmarcke had already been forced to miss the opening weekend and the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which he won in 2012, due to a cold. And now, during a training camp in Tenerife, he developed a fever.

Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab), Vanmarcke said there were no other signs of illness at the time, but that it returned after returning to Belgium to race.

"I got sick in the middle of training camp. 'Suddenly I had a fever, but other than that I had few symptoms of illness. Still, he decided to move to a hotel at the foot of the mountain to rest his body.

"It worked, and I felt fine again. But after returning home, I felt sick. After consulting with team management, it was decided that racing in these conditions was out of the question. It was another unfortunate season."

Vanmarcke had already started the season behind schedule after suffering knee pain at the end of the 2021 season, which kept him off the bike until December 20.

He suffered three punctures and a broken seatpost in Paris-Roubaix and crashed four times during the race at the Vuelta a España, abandoning two days after the finish.

Despite a string of bad luck, Vanmarcke got his 2022 season off to a good start by finishing second behind Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadier) in a small group sprint on stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence.

Of the early season, he said, "I thought things were going well. That cold was a blow, but it got me into training camp and got me ready for the other spring races."

He also said that he was "very happy with the way things were going, and I was very happy with the way things were going.

The training camp at Mount Teide, he said, was a conscious choice to avoid the week-long stage races in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, and the bad luck he had experienced in the past.

"I consciously chose a new path and did not include Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico in my program. I wanted to try something different to beat the top riders."

"High altitude training makes me extra strong, I hoped. I often got sick or injured in stage races. Unfortunately, this time was different."

Despite his misfortune, Vanmarcke is positive about the rest of his spring campaign for Paris-Roubaix, where he finished second in 2013.

His Israeli Premier Tech team last year saw Hugo Huret and Tom Van Asbroeck move up in the late stages of the race, with both finishing in the top 10, although Huret crashed out of the winning group at Canfan-en-Peverre.

"I know that if I stay healthy I can fight for the win in the big races. But to be honest, things aren't looking too good right now. But maybe things will turn around soon."

"The advantage this year is that Paris-Roubaix is one week after the Amstel Gold Race. I have already proven that I can be incredibly focused on that race. If I do so, all my bad luck may stop. I have to accept the situation and try to look further ahead, which is quite difficult."