Dylan Teuns of Bahrain Victorious outsprinted Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) to win La Flèche Wallonne atop Mur de Huy (Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) made his move on the steepest section of Mur de Huy to win the 2022 La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. His grinding sprint over the double-digit gradients was enough to hold off five-time race winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), while Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) took third place.
Valverde's teammate Enric Mas attempted to lead the Spaniard to victory across the Huy, but the Belgian had enough left in his legs to hold off the charge. It was the first win of the season for Teuns, who finished third in Huy five years ago.
For Vlasov, it was a day for first - his Flèche debut and an inaugural podium in a Belgian classic. World Champion Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), who has won the race three times including last year's edition, could only manage fourth.
The hilly Classic packed a full day of climbing across 201.1 kilometres for the peloton with clear skies above. As its typical script, the race was decided on the third and final assault of the fearsome Mur de Huy.
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Results
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
4:42:12
2
Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
0:00:02
3
Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe
4
Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
0:00:05
5
Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
0:00:07
La Flèche Wallonne history
Flèche Wallonne is the middle child of the Ardennes Classics, sandwiched in the middle of the week between younger sibling Amstel Gold Race and La Doyenne - the oldest - Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which rounds out the triple crown.
Before the Amstel Gold Race was born in 1966, La Flèche Wallonne, which began in 1936, bounced around the calendar searching for its identity, finally linking up with Liège-Bastogne-Liège first on the same weekend in 1951, then as its post-script until it settled down in 1985 in its current Wednesday spot.
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The start cities have changed over the years but came up with the winning formula when organisers chose the Mur de Huy as the finish in 1983, when Bernard Hinault claimed the victory.
In recent years, new climbs have been added to the finale, with the Côte d'Ereffe and Côte du Chemin des Gueuses adding another level of difficulty but the Mur de Huy is almost always the deciding climb from a large group.
La Flèche Wallonne most successful riders
Alejandro Valverde holds the record of wins with five
Valverde also won four in a row between 2014 and 2017
Valverde won both Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège three times (2006, 2015, 2017) but has never won all three Ardennes Classics
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