Second of the Ardennes classic, so today we have the Mur de Huy classic, La Fleche Wallonne. It’s the shortest of the three, and also probably the least “important”. But a PT classic win is a big win anyway, and riders will get the same points as in Amstel.
Simone Ponzi comes from winning in Amstel and will be looking to continue on his fight for the Ardennes Triple again, but this a race he hasn’t won in 3 years, with Ginanni and Kelderman being the latest winners here. So a classic for the underdogs i guess
It wasn’t an easy thing to do, because it took them almost 40 kms to do it, but these 4 riders are part of the breakaway
Jaramillo De Vreese Battaglin Jones
First time out three that the race goes through Mur de Huy, and with 120 kms to go, the gap for the breakaway is over 6 minutes. Important to say that there’s a high wind present in the race, around 30 km/h
Less than 40 kms left now, and riders are climbing Mur de Huy for the second time today. The pace now is really high, with Grieg taking care of the chase, though the breakaway is not dangerous, being only 1’20 ahead of the group
In the breakaway, Battaglin dropped Jones and De Vresse, as only Jaramillo was able to hang on his wheel after the Italian’s pace rised a lot in this climb
But in the group more important things are happening. A split was made in the first places, and now Bakelants and Hagen are ahead of the group, and with the will to sploit that split. Ponzi is close to them, with Landa protecting him, so the Italian could join this duo
Landa and Ponzi made it to the trio ahead, so these 5 riders have a 35-second gap to the bunch, where Puma is working now
Landa, Ponzi Gillett, Bakelants Hagen
But they didn’t stay ahead for long time, as Mager did a fantastic job, while also the group didn’t colaborate too well
Battaglin attacks again from the breakaway, as with 20 kms to go, as the gap stays in 1’20, and the pace isn’t really high in the bunch right now, though they aren’t going slow neither
Only one climb left before Huy, Cote de Villers-Bouillet, and Battaglin has increased his gap to almost 1’30. The rest of the breakaway is about to get caught. Most of the favorites are in the first places of the bunch, with Ponzi, Bakelants, Kelderman, Hagen, Sagan, Van Garderen and Skujins in the first 15 places
Ponzi attacks in the top of Villers-Bouillet! Battaglin is still with a decent advantage, and that clearly worries the favourites like the Italian, who makes his second move of the day
And it looks like De Bie has gained a lot of places now and is going to try to follow this move
At the end, not only De Bie, but also Sagan, Hagen, Skujins, Van Garderen and Kelderman tried to follow, so Ponzi’s attack wasn’t succesfull
With 10 kms to go, it looked like 20 riders got away from the main bunch, with all the favourites there
Meanwhile, Battaglin’s gap had been reduced to just 50 seconds
Battaglin is at least going to start Mur de Huy with a little advantage, though behind it looks like Ponzi and Hagen are accelerating in the flat section with less than 5 kms to go, as their domestiques couldn’t reduce the gap
So Ponzi and Hagen actually were the ones closing the gap to Battaglin, who at the end only started the climb of Huy with a 15-second gap. So 2,5 kms to go in the race.
Ponzi and Hagen in front of the group, behind them a “grid” with Olivier, De Bie, Bakelants, Skujins, Sagan and Kelderman, and a bit behind them, Raileanu and Van Garderen.
In a third line you can see Gastauer, Mraouni, Van Stayen, Trofimov, Arndt and Calmejane. So some riders like Ginanni, Mohoric, Beltran, Koretzky, Claeys, Borges or Boswell not well placed at all (though all of them are in the first 30 places)
Ponzi is leading out the sprint with 1,5 kms to go, probably not the ideal tactic, as he’s looks to be working for Hagen, Sagan or Bakelants, who are the closest to him right now. De Bie and Van Garderen are trying to close a little gap to the first four, with Van Stayen in a great position next to them. Kelderman, Gastauer and Skujins are trying to gain some places now, but Raileanu and Olivier in the middle could make it more difficult for them
Bakelants looks to be struggling a bit under the Flamme Rouge, and that might kill De Bie’s hopes, as he’s unable to do what Van Stayen looks to be doing right now, go by Bakelants’ side to join the first three riders. Skujins looks to be following Van Stayen’s wheel, so Evonik could be up for a great tactic and a big result if they play this well
Only 700 metres left and Ponzi keeps leading the way, with Hagen and Sagan close to him. Bakelants and De Bie haven’t surrender yet, though Van Stayen had to. Only Van Garderen, Gastauer and Skujins might have a chance for a podium today, as Kelderman doesn’t look like gaining more places to repeat his 2016 success
Hagen starts to struggle! And Sagan is trying to go around the outside of the Norwegian to put himself in Ponzi’s wheel ahead of the sprint. Bakelants and De Bie are still there, while Van Garderen, Skujins and Gastauer, together with Van Stayen are dropped
Koretzky looks the strongest of those left behind, as he has overtaken all the group of Mohoric, Claeys, Borges, Trofimov, Boswell and Felline, and is looking to catch Kelderman
With 400 metres to go none of the leading riders look to be confortable on his bike, except for Ponzi, who is looking to win this race for the first time since 2015
And there’s goes Ponzi for the sprint! He’s already opening a little gap to Hagen and Sagan...
... and Simone Ponzi wins La Fleche Wallonne! Super effort performance from the World Champion, who can’t stop winning this season, as he’s already won Tirreno, Strade, Amstel and now Fleche. It’s the second time he does the Amstel - Fleche double, and that time, he also went to win Liege to complete the Ardennes triple. Will he be able to do it again in 2018?
Hagen takes second place again, as in Amstel, with Sagan in third getting closer to his 2017 level, but this year lacking something to be the winner instead of a podium contender.
Bakelants is fourth, like in Amstel, with De Bie getting a Top5 today. So they finished in the same places they started the sprint, showing that none of them had anything left in the tank to sprint
Skujins wins the sprint for the sixth place in the final metres after overtaking Van Garderen, with Gastauer beating Kelderman for the eighth place. Van Stayen gets a Top10 place here, which makes for two Evonik riders in the Top10
Koretzky finishes just outside Top10, wondering now what he could have done if he hadn’t started Huy around 40th place. Then Beltran, Mohoric, Trofimov and Boswell in the Top15
Porto could only put Borges and Claeys in 16th and 17th. Maybe if they had worked together they could have achieved something better. Calmejane gets a fantastic 18th place, while last year’s winner Ginanni is feeling his age with only a 19th place today. Pernsteiner completes the Top20 for today
Simone Ponzi goes to the podium to receive his trophy as 2018 Fleche Wallonne winner. It’s his second win in the race, after his 2015 win, which makes for a total of 7 Ardennes classic wins in his career (3 Amstel, 2 Liege, 2 Fleche)
