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Flèche Wallonne: Alaphilippe at the foot of the Wall

2021-04-20T14:32:49.920Z


A wall to overcome: the arrival of the Flèche Wallonne is ideally suited to the world champion, the French Julian Alaphilippe, who receives in his garden, this Wednesday in Huy, the Slovenes Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar.


In his first four participations, Alaphilippe won (2018 and 2019) or took second place (2015 and 2016). This shows how well it accommodates the violent effort imposed by the slope of the Chemin des Chapelles, the 1300 meters at nearly 10%, where the first of the two Ardennes classics ends, four days before Liège-Bastogne. -Cork. To imitate the Australian Cadel Evans, the last winner of the “Flèche” dressed as world champion in 2010, Alaphilippe must however raise his level. In the Amstel Gold Race, which opened Ardennes week on Sunday, the Frenchman reached a peak at the decisive moment.

“I felt my limits at the top of the Cauberg, when I was in the wheel of Wout van Aert (final winner).

I needed to recover, ”admitted“ Alaf ”, sixth at the finish line.

But, three days later, the data differ even if the objective remains, according to the admission of his trainer Franck Alaphilippe, the meeting of the Dean (Liège-Bastogne-Liège) that the French has never won. .

At the start of the 193 kilometers, in Charleroi, the unknown will come from Roglic.

If Pogacar, the winner of the last Tour de France, took part in the last two editions without success (53rd in 2019, 9th in 2020), the eldest of the Slovenes has never yet faced in competition the wall of Huy.

Certainly a disadvantage, but Roglic's ease in the Amstel Gold Race puts the handicap in perspective.

Pidcock the beginner, Valverde the ex-master of the house

A three-way match?

Certainly not, if we take into account a few other usual candidates (Woods, Fuglsang, Schachmann) and especially the revelation Tom Pidcock, the 21-year-old Briton beaten by a few millimeters on Sunday by van Aert (absent on Wednesday) and also a neophyte of the wall of Huy.

“It is perhaps this climb that suits him best,” even believes his sporting director Servais Knaven, who also knows that his team Ineos has never won at Huy since its creation in 2010. It is true that the long series of the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, long the master of the place (5 wins), limited the openings.

At almost 41 years old, Valverde (5th Sunday) remains competitive.

He says he is "ready for the Battle of the Bulge".

Like other contenders, such as Benoît Cosnefroy who had only been beaten last year by the Swiss Marc Hirschi, who currently displays a random form.

Or the Belgian Mauri Vansevenant, in radiant form for his part.

During his debut last October, when the Flèche Wallonne had been postponed to the fall due to the pandemic, Vansevenant had tried his luck from afar before falling 4 kilometers from the finish while still in the lead. .

This time, the young Belgian (21), who plays in the same team as Alaphilippe, knows the terrain.

Closed, in this case, since the public will be prohibited in the famous Wall, out of respect for sanitary measures.

The user manual

85th edition of the Flèche Wallonne scheduled for Wednesday:

The route: 193.6 km between Charleroi and Huy.

Departure at 11:15 am, arrival around 4:30 pm.

Rugged route with three climbs of the Mur de Huy (km 130, km 162 and finish).

Coast of the Chemin des Gueuses 9.7 km from the finish.

Participation: 25 teams.

AG2R Citroën, Astana, Bahrein, BikeExchange, Bora, Cofidis, Deceuninck, DSM, EF Education, Groupama-FDJ, Ineos, Intermarché, Israel SN, Jumbo, Lotto, Movistar, Qhubeka, Trek and UAE (1st division), Alpecin, Arkea -Samsic, Bingoal, Delko, Gazprom and Vlaanderen (2nd division)

The prize list: 84 editions since the creation of the event in 1936, 38 Belgian victories, 18 for Italy, 10 for France, 8 for Spain, 3 for Switzerland, 2 for Denmark, 1 for Germany, Australia, the United States, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Record wins: 5 for Alejandro Valverde (ESP) between 2006 and 2017.

The last winners:


2016: Alejandro Valverde (ESP)


2017: Alejandro Valverde (ESP)


2018: Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)


2019: Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)


2020: 1. Marc Hirschi (SUI)


2. Benoît Cosnefroy (FRA)


3. Michael Woods (CAN)

Read also

  • Amstel Gold Race: Pidcock close to beating Van Aert  

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-04-20

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