Race day. It’s finally happening today. Half a year of preparation has come to an end. The alarm went off at 8:00, and I only got 4 hours of sleep because I was still working on my bike late into the night. While adjusting the brakes, I broke a bolt on my fork. Luckily I was allowed to steal the screw from @sebastian_jl bike. At 13:00, I headed to registration, picked up the GPS tracker, and had the bike checked. Then, the long waiting began. It was interesting to see all the participants‘ setups and have a few conversations before everyone set off for their own race.
Finally, at 20:00 it started. 328 riders took a lap in the famous Roubaix Velodrome. After that, we set off on the 77 km fixed route over cobblestones and the famous climbs of the Tour of Flanders. There were even the first off-road sections, and the equipment was tested for the first time. Some riders were already on the roadside with mechanical issues, and many water bottles and even a sleeping bag were dropped on the road. It quickly became clear — this is TCR.
The fixed start parcours ended in Geraardsbergen, where we faced one final climb on cobblestones. I was surprised by how many spectators were waiting for us there. Afterwards, the field of riders immediately split up, and everyone followed their planned route. Suddenly, it was super quiet and I was riding alone. On smooth asphalt I rolled through Belgium at night. At 3:30, after 161 km, I reached my first sleeping spot and fell asleep super tired immediately.
distance // 162 km
elevation // 1.329 m
moving time // 7:14 h
break time // 0:38 h
sleep duration night before // 3:55 h
location // bivouac
highlight // Koppenberg
problems // none
The entire route is compiled in a collection on Komoot. You can also find the individual stages of the tour on Strava!
Komoot: Joschka Völkel Strava: Joschka Völkel Instagram: @joschka_voelkel
by Reasonable-Cup-5324