Wednesday April 17, 2024 at 4:17 PM
Stephen Williams has surprisingly won a heroic Flèche Wallonne 2024. After a grueling race of almost 200 kilometers, the British from Israel-Premier Tech was the first to reach the dreaded Wall of Huy. Williams was the only one who had a sharp attack in his legs in the last 300 meters. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) finished second and Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Dstny) third.
The route of the Flèche Wallonne had undergone a significant change for this edition. The Wall of Huy (1.3 km at 9.6%) did not have to be climbed three times, as in previous years, but no less than four times. The Côte de Cherave (1.3 km at 8.1%) had disappeared from the local final round. The finish was after more than 198 kilometers on top of the Wall of Huy.
When the sun was still shining… – photo: Cor Vos
Advantage disappears like snow (and rain) in the sun
After the team presentation and the start took place in a sunny Charleroi, the race of the day quickly arose. Ultimately, six riders broke away in several stages: Lilian Calmejane (Intermaché-Wanty), Alan Jousseaume (TotalEnergies), James Whelan (Q36.5), Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Johan Meens (Bingoal WB) and Igor Chzhan (Astana Qazaqstan). They rode more than four minutes away from the peloton, where INEOS Grenadiers and Lidl-Trek were in the lead ahead of Tom Pidcock and Mattias Skjelmose.
However, the weather conditions completely changed during the match. The temperature was still manageable at 10 degrees Celsius, but the rainfall and strong wind made the race a real drag. For a moment it even seemed like it was hailing or even snowing. Many riders were overcome by the cold. The flight came to a standstill and the peloton continued to thin out. Even before the real final started, favorites Pello Bilbao and Dylan Teuns had also dropped out.
More and more favorites and outsiders are catching the cold
The wear and tear was tackled by Groupama-FDJ and EF Education-EasyPost to solidify the course. This resulted in more people being released on the second Mur of Huy, with Skjelmose, Marc Hirschi and Tom Pidcock as the biggest victims. A peloton of less than fifty riders remained when entering the last 60 kilometers. Søren Kragh Andersen took advantage of a quiet moment by attacking, while Markus Hoelgaard counterattacked. The latter was captured on the penultimate Côte d’Ereffe.
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There the first remaining favorites joined the game. Maxim Van Gils showed up, as did Ben Healy, but they did not get much closer to Kragh Andersen. The Dane from Alpecin-Deceuninck started the penultimate Wall of Huy with almost a minute and a half lead. Behind him the peloton broke into pieces, with the surprising Stephen Williams as the strongest climber. Santiago Buitrago, Richard Carapaz, Van Gils and Clément Champoussin also came out with the best. That was about a minute behind SKA.
Williams did not want to get too excited and so he dropped back into the Van Gils group, but the rest of the favorites group was not far behind. The cooperation in both groups was good, which reduced the lead. The performance of Uno-X Mobility also stood out. The strong Norwegian team first managed to pick up the group with Williams and Van Gils and then also Kragh Andersen 15 kilometers from the finish, on the Côte d’Ereffe. Also Visma | Lease a Bike took the lead for Tiesj Benoot.
Battle of the dying swans on the Wall of Huy
The only attack that followed was from an Uno-X rider, but he was neutralized by Tim van Dijke. Then it was full speed towards the foot of the last Wall of Huy (1.3 km at 9.6%), where Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale arrived first. At that moment, only twenty riders still had a chance of victory.
photo: Cor Vos
With Toms Skujins and Benoît Cosnefroy at the front, the favorites drove towards the absolute final. No one seemed to have any acceleration in their legs, until Stephen Williams broke away with 300 meters to go. The Brit turned out to be the only one who could do that, because there was no reaction whatsoever. The bird had flown, although a strong Kévin Vauquelin appeared in the last line. The Frenchman finished in second place, just ahead of Maxim Van Gils. Tiesj Benoot finished in ninth place.
