An essential spring race, the Flèche Wallonne will take place this Wednesday. The Classic, scheduled four days before the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, will see the runners cover 199.1 km between Charleroi and Huy, in Belgium. With in particular the ascent of the Mur du Huy, which sometimes exceeds 23% in altitude. The route for this 88th edition will nevertheless include a significant difference: this difficulty will have to be climbed four times, compared to the usual three.
Among the favorites, there is necessarily the Dane Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), second last year, in the absence of the title holder, Tadej Pogacar, who prefers to concentrate on Liège-Bastogne-Liège in his preparation at the Tour of Italy. Winner of the Amstel Gold Race last Sunday, Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) also has arguments to put forward. The Spaniard Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), who won the Tour of the Basque Country, is also in a form that could allow him to get a result.
Alejandro Valverde remains the most successful rider on the Flèche Wallonne with five successes, including four between 2014 and 2017.
The race will be followed this Wednesday April 17 from 2:30 p.m. on Eurosport 1 and 3:10 p.m. on France 3.
