Under sunny conditions the UCI World Tour Classic La Fleche Wallonne took place today. The eleven registered climbs included three ascends of the Mur de Huy. After 205.5km it were Warren Barguil and Georg Preidler who climbed to 26th and 37th for Giant-Alpecin.

After 6.5 km a group of seven riders moved to the attack and spent almost all day in the front. With 25km to the line the break was caught back and a nervous phase was initiated with numerous crashes. Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) and recent Tour de France winner Christopher Froome (Team Sky) were among the victims.

A group of only thirty riders entered the final km. With fourteen seconds advantage it was Belgian Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) to start the climb of the Mur de Huy first but he was unable to hold his lead. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) had the most powerful legs and won La Fleche Wallonne. From Team Giant-Alpecin it was Barguil to be home first at 26th.

Coach Aike Visbeek reflected on the race: “Our aim was to have Warren and Georg in a good position into the final 10km, so that Warren could start the Mur de Huy with the first.

“During the second last climb a split happened in the bunch and Georg had to bring Warren back into position. Because of this huge effort of Georg he was unable to bring Warren to the front before the start of the final climb. On the Mur de Huy Warren didn’t had the best legs anymore and climbed to 26th.”