Cobbles
The day really started with the first stretch of cobbles at the canal Ypres-Comines. Passing into France I payed the Roubaix velodrome a visit. Unfortunately it was closed for the day for some non-cycling event whose obstinate staff wouldn't even let me proceed to the entrance for a photo.
So I continued back into Flanders to follow the route of De Ronde. Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, and Koppenberg were the selection of cobbled climbs for today. Of those the Koppenberg proved particularly grueling. Which was not at all unexpected.
With the three climbs done I headed to Gerardsbergen where I stopped mere meters from the Kapelmuur to call it a day. The heatwave asserted itself today and made the overall rather flat and short route disproportionally exhausting.