Tour du Haut Var: Vanmarcke wins stage 1

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Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First) won stage 1 of the Tour du Haut Var in the south of France, beating Julien El Fares (Delko Marseille Provence) in the sprint after mimosa pollen made a late descent treacherous and sparked numerous crashes.

It is Vanmarcke’s first win since 2016 as he follows an alternative build-up to the spring Classics. It was EF Education First's fifth win of the 2019 season. Last year, the team recorded six victories in total.

“I’m really happy to win. It’s my first win in nearly three years. It feels so good to be back on the top step,” said Vanmarcke.

“There was a false flat part with 30-kilometers to go,” said sport director Ken Vanmarcke, Sep’s older brother. “If the gap to the breakaway was small, we wanted to anticipate action with Sep and Matti [Breschel]. The gap wasn’t small enough to do anything then, but on the second to last climb, the gap was down to 40-seconds and Lachlan [Morton] tried to go across. The climb was too short for that.”

The Tour du Haut Var continues on Saturday with a hilly 200-kilometre day between Le Cannent-des-Maures and Mons.

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