“I thought I was having a good day, but I felt so cold afterwards” - Bauke Mollema on the brutal conditions at La Flèche Wallonne

It was one of the worst races of the season for the riders in the peloton at La Flèche Wallonne, as they faced cold and wet conditions throughout the day, with temperatures at around 6°C and although it was simply overcast at the start the weather quickly turned to hail and sleet.

The riders attempted to wrap up warm with jackets and gloves, but even that was not enough for many of them, as only 44 out of the 175 riders reached the finish, with the rest of them abandoning the race.

One of those few riders who finished the race was Bauke Mollema. The Lidl-Trek rider finished in 35th place, nearly four minutes down on the winner Stephen Williams. Speaking to WielerFlits after the race, the Dutchman said “it got very cold on those laps, because of the wet snow and a temperature of 5 degrees. Then you get soaking wet and you never get warm again”.

On his thought process during the difficult conditions, Mollema said “I felt good on the first Mur de Huy, so I thought I was having a good day, but I felt so cold afterwards. Then you no longer have any power in your legs and it's over. You can no longer go deep and exert force”.

He was one of only two riders from his team to make it to the finish, as Toms Skujins finished in 12th place on the Mur de Huy, with their leader Mattias Skjelmose abandoning the race due to the conditions.

Unlike some of his teammates, Mollema was prepared for the cold, as he said “I think many riders were surprised that it suddenly became so cold. As a result, the peloton immediately split into pieces. I had seen it coming, because the predictions indicated it. That's why it helped that I was prepared, but I got cold a little later”.