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Van der Breggen and Valderde seize Fleche Wallonne titles, Woods impresses

April 20, 2016
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The Fleche Wallonne is Spaniard Alejandro Valverde’s race, as the 35-year-old Movistar ace won his third Walloon Arrow in a row. The Green Bullet now owns the race record with four victories. In the women’s race Dutch rider Anna Van der Breggen took a fine win for her RaboLiv squad, as the Dutch team becomes the first besides Boels-Dolmans to win a WorldTour race after six rounds.

Canadian Lex Albrecht (Bepink) was part of a seven-rider move that stole away before the first of two passages of the Mur de Huy in La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. With 50 of the 137-km to go, the powerful RaboLiv team had reduced the gap to 2:30.

The break began to crumble on the hills and finally submitted with 34-km to go. The peloton then split, with big names like Boels-Dolman’s Lizzie Armitstead, RaboLiv’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, and Wiggle5 duo Emma Johansson and Elisa Longo Borghini surging a minute ahead of the bunch with 20-km and three climbs left.

In both races the Côte de Cherave sits a few kilometres before the final haul up the Huy. At 1.3-km of 8.1%, it has the type of slopes that invite a splitting move. American Carmen Small (Cérvelo-Bigla) didn’t wait for the Cherave, trying her luck on the milder Côte de Solières, but she wasn’t among those who took off on the penultimate climb.

Van der Breggen and Polish teammate Katarzyna Niewiadoma, American Boels-Dolmans duo Megan Gaurnier and Evelyn Stevens, and Longo Borghini hit the Mur de Huy for the showdown. The Huy’s last 600-metres are 12% with a maximum of 19 or 23%, depending where you are in the curve. Van der Breggen hammered away from her rivals, staying ahead of the Boels-Dolmans Americans. Stevens was the closest, 8-seconds behind.


Another Boels-Dolmans rider, Karol-ann Canuel, was top Canadian in 17th.

The men’s breakaway took a while to establish itself, with Steve Cummings (Great Britain/Dimension Data) sparking the escape, one that grew to 10 men before the first climb of the day, the Côte de Bellaire. The fugitives pulled out 3:25 over the Movistar and Katusha-led peloton before their first clamber up the Huy, situated at the midway point of the race.

The bunch shaved away the escapees’ gap at a predictable pace. On the 7.8% Côte de Bohissau, with 56-km remaining, the break split, the remaining quartet tipping over the top with a 2:00 lead on the favourites. A crash in the peloton that took out two Ryder Hesjedal’s Trek teammates reduced the numbers.

Four men started the second ascent of the Huy with 38-seconds on the frenetic action of the favourites group. Cummings and Swiss BMC man Silvan Dillier sprang away. Dillier couldn’t hold Cummmings’ wheel and the Brit was solo, 50-seconds ahead of the peloton with 25-km and three hills remaining.

However, Cummings was lassoed on the third from last climb with 17.5-km to go. Movistar and Katusha kept whipping along the peloton, shelling riders out the back. Before the Cherave, a trio stole away and suddenly Tinkoff came to life in the bunch.

Bob Jungels (Luxembourg/Etixx-QuickStep) and Jon Izagirre (Spain/Movistar) were the only escapees left after the Cherave, but Tim Wellens (Belgium/Lotto-Soudal) bridged across. LottoLN-Jumbo worked at the front of the 60-man peloton leading to the foot of the Huy. The fugitives were brought to heel.

In the final kilometre Valverde led up the Huy but 2012 champion Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain/Katusha) made a surge at 300-metres to go. A thrust from Dan Martin (Ireland/Etixx-QuickStep) looked to be a winner, but Valverde kept a level head and slipped around the Irishman with relative ease to set the record. Martin placed third–his fourth top-six finish–and his French teammate Julian Alaphilippe came runner-up for the second year in a row.

Canadian Michael Woods (Cannondale) was only five-seconds behind in 12th place, his best result since coming 5th in January’s Tour Down Under.


Valverde just finished winning the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and triumphed in February’s Ruta Ciclista Del Sol.


2016 La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
1) Ann Anna Van der Breggen (The Netherlands/RaboLiv) 3:50:36
2) Evelyn Stevens (USA/Boels-Dolmans) +0:08
3) Megan Gaurnier (USA/Boels-Dolmans) +0:22
17) Karol-ann Canuel (Canada/Boels-Dolmans) +1:00
21) Leah Kirchmann (Canada/Liv-Plantur) +1:11
29) Joëlle Numainville (Canada/Cervélo-Bigla) +1:25
67) Lex Albrecht (Canada/Bepink) +4:48


2016 La Flèche Wallonne
1) Alejandro Valverde (Spain/Movistar) 4:43:57
2) Julian Alaphilippe (France/Etixx-QuickStep) s.t.
3) Dan Martin (Ireland/Etixx-QuickStep) s.t.
12) Michael Woods (Canada/Cannondale) +0:05
78) Christian Meier (Canada/Orica-GreenEdge) +3:30
142) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Trek-Segafredo) +8:02

 

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