The second race of the Ardennes Triple, La Flèche Wallonne, is a race known mainly for it's final climb: the Mur de Huy. Mur de Huy is a really steep climb with percentages above 20% (26% max.). As long as have watched cycling, the race is decided by a peloton sprint up this hill. This year it'll probably be no different.

The finish is for punchers, though the lightweight climbers also have a shot here. The past editions all had winners of big stature in cycling, meaning a surprise result is usually out of the question. The last three editions have won by the Spanish. This year too there a chance for a Spanish victory, as former winners Valverde and Rodríguez have already shown that they're in good shape.

Past winners:
2014 Alejandro Valverde
2013 Daniel Moreno
2012 Joaquím Rodríguez
2011 Philippe Gilbert
2010 Cadel Evans
2009 Davide Rebellin
2008 Kim Kirchen
2007 Davide Rebellin
2006 Alejandro Valverde
2005 Danilo Di Luca

Alejandro Valverde

Out of the current participants, Valverde is the only rider that has won it more than once. Another win means he'll put his name next to Moreno Argentin, Eddy Merckx, Marcel Kint and Davide Rebellin, who won it three times in their careers.

Joaquím Rodríguez

Besides Valverde, there's the lightweight climber/puncher Joaquím Rodríguez (aka Purito) who won this race before. Purito won the race in 2012 and showed his form by winning the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

Daniel Martin


Finished 2nd last year, Daniel Martin is a good bet for a victory here. By winning LBL in 2013 he showed that he belongs to the very best in the hilly classics. In the last three editions of the FW he finished 6th, 4th and 2nd, so a win is all that's left to Dan.

Apart from the three mentioned above, here are the other favourites for the race.

***
Valverde, Rodríguez, Martin

**
Henao, Kwiatkowski, Moreno, Gilbert, S. Yates

*
Mollema, J. Vanendert, G. Caruso, N. Quintana, Nibali, Fuglsang, Scarponi, Hermans, Costa, Albasini, Slagter, Kreuziger, Arredondo

Smoku wrote:
As much I'd love to see yet another treble, after watching Pays Basque I'm going with Purito this time.

tastasol wrote:
Woah, just saw that they have added another climb 5k from Mur de Huy. The last 30k could actually be interesting.

Strydz wrote:


Dirty riders made for a better sport? What a load of rubbish! It made it a circus and it wasn't enetertaining it was a joke. There was nothing wrong with Amstel, it's not meant to be a super selective race, the parcours dictate that, also we don't have one super dominant hilly classics rider/team at the moment which contributes to closer racing. When there is a dominant rider on the scence then the racing will change, but doping doesn't make the racing better for anybody. One thing I would like to see change is race radios, it has taken some of the unpredictability out of racing and the safety argument for keeping them is rubbish.

tastasol wrote:
Checked it on Google Maps. Wouldn't say that it's wide. Yes, it's wider than Mur de Huy(the narrow part that is), but it's not a wide road. The first half is relatively steep, must be over 10 % average. The second half does look more like a steep false flat( ), but the hill should be ideal for an attack. Hopefully some have the courage to do it..

Avin Wargunnson wrote:

Well, only somebody in a super top shape can pull an attack here and certainly not alone, because he would be murdered on the Huy if the advantage is less then 30secons or so.