Belgian Dylan Teuns won the Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday, ahead of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, 41.
Julian Alaphilippe, three-time winner of the Ardennes classic (2018, 2019, 2021), placed fourth, unable to mingle with the final victory in the last meters of the terrible wall of Huy.
Sunday, the peloton has an appointment with the mythical Liège-Bastogne-Liège.