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, whose shots you can enjoy in all their full-width glory below.
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