On Sunday, it was estimated that for each square metre of West Flanders, there fell up to 20 litres of rain. 176 riders set off from Ypres just before 11am and 98 of them arrived in Wevelgem six hours later, sodden, shivering, and searching for team buses and the hot showers within.
The rain didn’t hammer down at any point during Gent-Wevelgem – this wasn’t a lashing or a bucketing – but it was relentless. From start to finish, it came and it came and it came. Gore-Tex was ground down and forced to give way, and so was nearly half the field.
Those who did make it to Wevelgem betrayed every inch of their ordeal. Vacant gazes seeped from mud-caked faces, arms shivered, and teeth chattered. The team buses lay the other side of an obligatory media zone, with most riding straight through and ignoring our calls for interviews – no hard feelings there.
When the top three eventually came through after the podium ceremony, they were wrapped up in hats and jackets – Sep Vanmarcke even had a heat pack stuffed down his back – but they were still cold to the core.
The winner Christophe Laporte could barely get his words out, while his teammate Wout van Aert was handed a rattle and got it going without even trying.
On the road, it had been a day of suffering, pain, disappointment, and – for that Jumbo-Visma duo – jubilation. The emotions were all captured by the experienced pro cycling photographer Chris Auld (opens in new tab), whose shots you can enjoy in all their full-width glory below.
Jerseys line the streets of Ypres to set the scene for Gent-Wevelgem
The races sets off from the striking Menin Gate
The constant rain made for slippery roads
The peloton pass by a member of the fan club for AG2R’s Stan Dewulf
The riders were soaked through and caked in mud
More mud and more misery
The breakaway hits the Kemmelberg – the race’s iconic climb
Dangerous moves fly on the gravel Plugstreets
Fabio Jakobsen attacks on the gravel but is caught in no man’s land
The defining moment – Van Aert and Laporte attack on the second ascent of the Kemmelberg
The pair combine for 50km and are never seen again
Mikkel Bjerg fights with the Kemmelberg
Stefan…
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