How to watch La Flèche Wallonne 2021
A mid-week Ardennes Classic to feed your racing hunger
Photo by:
sirotti
Six months after its rescheduled 2020 edition, this year’s Flèche Wallonne is set to go down on April 21, 2021.
The women’s WorldTour race coverage will kick off at 5:05 a.m. EDT (2:05 a.m. PDT) and the men’s WorldTour race is scheded to start at 6:55 a.m. EDT (3:55 a.m. PDT). In Canada, both races will be streaming on Flobikes.
A quick return
Last year, Canadian Micheal Woods (at the time racing for EF) put in an impressive effort but ultimately finished third after Sunweb’s Marc Hirschi out-sprinted him and Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) on the famously demanding Mur de Huy final climb.
At this year’s men’s Flèche Wallonne, the second race of the three Ardennes Classics (Amstel Gold Race,Flèche Wallonne,Liège-Bastogne-Liège), riders such as Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) make stiff competition for the win. Micheal Woods will return, racing with just one Israel Start-Up Nation teammate, Krists Neilands.
Canadians can also keep their eyes out for Hugo Houle, racing with his team Astana-Premier Tech.
The racers will take on a 193.6 km course that finishes with the Mur de Huy, a 1.3km climb that averages a 9.6 per cent gradient.
Flèche Wallonne Feminine
Last year, Anna van der Breggen won her sixth consecutive Flèche Wallonne, just one week after her double world championship win.
This year, all eyes will once again be on van der Breggen as she attempts a seventh consecutive win.
The 126.5km Flèche Wallonne Feminine course will cover a number of climbs: Côte de Thon, Côte de Groynne, Côte de Haut-Bois, Côte de Gives, Côte d’Ereffe, Côte du Chemin des Gueuses and finish on the Mur de Huy.
Canadians can look out for Sara Poidevin racing for Rally Cycling’s Women.
