Hello and welcome to the 2023 Fleche Wallone, everyone knows the route, it’s legendary so without much further ado let us get into the action!
A quick look at the bookies’ call for faovurites here. Nothing of note compared to what everyone else expects, with De Bie being joint top favourite with MAL! Let’s get the race underway!
Some riders haven’t even begun to pedal yet as the first two breakaway contenders fly away from the peleton. Van Gestel and Skjelmose Jensenare the first two riders to try and make a mark. The duo gets 30 seconds before the next wave of attacks come through.
And that next wave is a big’un: Oldani, Stork, Dlamini, De La Cruz Chapulin, Sweeny, Zingle and Zukowsky all try to join the front two!They all get contained as Zingle is the only one of that group that makes a successful counter move.
His move was followed by Trondsen and Donovan who together with Zingle make it to the front. Meaning that Grieg has two riders in the front five that now has a little over a minute to the pack with 178 to go.
After another very persistent wave of attackers it is clear that Oldani is our last breakee of the day. Question is if he can bridge to the front group. Croes was the next most persistent in the chaos but does not have the ability to join the front. The excessive breaks were mainly shut down by Johannessen and Bergstrom Frisk, very clear that they believe in their captains today!
At the 160km Oldani gets contact to the front group as their gap reaches close to 5 minutes.
At the 100km mark the gap is around 4 minutes as the pack is controlled by a combination of Tinkoff, Gazelle, Evonik, LIDL and King Power as Aker seems to be taking a break in leading the pack after their active denial of a huge break.
Anbsolutely nothing happens for 70kms but as we reach our second ascent of the Mûr two very prominent names decides that with the break being closed down shortly they want to go after something themselves! With 35kms to the finish line Yates launches and attack and is followed by Borges
They get themselves a small gap around 30 seconds as Koretzky, Formolo and Müller try to make something stick as well!
Over the top Van Niekerk decides that he also wants to join in on the fun as Formolo and Müller have been given up on this attempt.
In the pack Johannessen gas taken the front again trying to reel back in the groups ahead of them. Every single major favourite is lying in tow behind him, probably trying to captilize on his hard work. It is worth remembering that the original breakaway still has around a minute to the pack. The Yates group is around 30 seconds ahead of the main pack still too!
And it seems like more of the riders on the brink of favourite status think the Norwegian’s work is too slow as Olivier accelerates with Vila, Ardila and Madouas in tow.
They do not create a gap but Yates, Koretzky, Van Niekerk and Borges are brought back as a result. This year’s cobble sensation Polanc takes the front with 24kms to go to bring back the break that has 32” to work with!
Speaking of the break, Trondsen sees the writing on the wall and tries to go alone!
The move really doesn’t do a whole lot in the grand scheme of things but he is the last man caught as we enter the final 20kms of the race. Borges tries once again to do make a move on the descent but Salzmann’s domestique work is too good.
It is worth noting that with 14kms to go the pack is mostly still together at 167 riders but every single main favourite are positioned in the top 30 riders with Januskevicius, Battistella and Salzmann working away at the front.
Hecht leads the pack of the 5km line, there has been some heavy pace setting over the last 5k, but no moves have been made. Seems like it will all be determined on the Mûr!
The second we see any incline percentages the favourites take over! 2020 champion Kinoshita launches the first attack! Lopez, De Bie, Vakoc and Lutsenko are the first four to respond!+
Under Flamme Rouge the Japanese puncheur flames out as Lopez now takes the lead!
The Colombian continues to keep up his incredible pace with 500 metres to go! Lutsenko, Gidich and De Bie are trying to close the gap but it seems like they will battle for secondary placements! Meanwhile Ardila looks like he could be in for a surprise result as he is in the mix right behind them alongside Skujins, Mohoric, Yates, Vakoc and Valter
AND THE CELEBRATIONS CAN BEGIN! Lopez goes back to back in Fleche Wallone and claims the 2023 title, he was absolutely untouchable on the final climb on the Mûr de Huy finishing the race with a 16 second gap!
Behind him the sprint for the podium places heat up as it looks like a Kazakh battle between Lutsenko and Gidich with Ardila right behind them!
And it’s Lutsenko that takes second place with Gidich in third. Ardila picks up a monumental fourth place finish for MOL as Valter, De Bie, Yates, Mohoric Vakoc and a surprising Madouas finish out our top 10. The man that started it all, Kinoshita, sees himself finished in 12th behind Skujins who also looked good going the final climb but failed to make it count. That concludes our report here from Fleche Wallone let’s take a look at the final result!
