British professional cyclist Stephen Williams has won the 88th edition of the Fleche Wallonne. After 198.6 kilometers in cold and sleet in the Belgian Ardennes, the 27-year-old from the Israel-Premier Tech team came ahead of the French Kevin Vauquelin and the Belgian in the difficult uphill final on the infamous Huy wall (maximum 27 percent gradient). Maxim van Gils.
The probably toughest conditions in the history of the semi-classic led to numerous tasks, and not even a third of the drivers made it to the finish. Many of the favorites such as the young Spanish star Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and the Dane Matthias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) were also eliminated.
It was an early end for the only German starter, Juri Hollmann (Berlin/Alpecin-Deceuninck), as was Alexander Vlasov, captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe.
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Last year’s winner Tadej Pogacar was missing this time. The Slovenian is concentrating on the big duel with Dutch top star Mathieu van der Poel on Sunday at Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the end of the Ardennes week.
