Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) soared to the biggest win of his career on the steep slopes of the Mur de Huy to score the victory at La Flèche Wallonne.
The Welshman powered home with a huge acceleration with 300 metres left of the steep1.3km climb to beat Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-Samsic) and Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) to the line at the end of the attritional 199km race.
The podium trio were part of a much-reduced 35-man peloton which battled up the final of four ascents of the Mur de Huy after a day of heavy rain and even snow at times as the peloton fell to pieces over the famous wall and four further ascents of the Côte d’Ereffe.
Williams was among the front third of the group as the riders made their way up the opening kilometre of the final climb as the likes of Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost), and Toms Skujinš (Lidl-Trek) led the way at the front.
He’d make his winning move just past the 300-metre to go marker, finding a space up the outside of Johannessen to accelerate away from the group and build a gap. There was no immediate response from those behind, though Cosnefroy would lead the chase into the final 175 metres.
Vauquelin, Van Gils, and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) were also up there attempting to close the gap as W silliams kept pushing on around the final bend and onto the flatter finishing straight.
However, his first acceleration was too much for any rivals to match, and his advantage was too big to close down, leaving him to sprint home and claim Israel-Premier Tech’s fourth WorldTour win of 2024.
22-year-old rising star Vauquelin ended up in second place just metres behind Williams, while Van Gils led home Cosnefroy and Buitrago three seconds behind.
“What a day. I’m so happy right now. I can’t believe I just won Fleche!” Williams said after the race. “I’ve been watching this race for years and I’ve always wanted to come here with decent legs to try and win it. Today with the weather – I do enjoy racing this kind of weather and to come away with a victory – I’m just over the moon.
“The boys backed me all day and they gave me the best chance to try and to result today and to come away with the win here is special, really special.
“There was a bit of a like a block on the road like everyone was just kind of waiting, and I just saw the 300 metres to go and I thought if I can get a jump here and you know put five to 10 seconds into the group and see the line in front of you then I think it’d be a good chance to hold on and I was looking around a bit and I was a bit like because the legs are empty but really happy to hold on and win.
“I’m exhausted and lost for words, quite emotional really. It’s just a really hard sport and to win bike races is hard. Especially here in these Classics. So yeah, I’m really happy.”
How it unfolded
The peloton set off in cold but dry conditions in Charleroi to start the 199km trek over nine major hills on the way to the finish line atop the Mur de Huy and it wasn't long before attacks flew at the head of the race.
The moves culminated with a breakaway establishing itself inside the opening 20km as all jumped away from the peloton to form a move of six riders up the road.
Behind them, Lidl-Trek, Ineos Grenadiers, EF Education-EasyPost, and UAE Team Emirates were among the squads working in the peloton to lead the way and limit the gap. It wouldn't get over five minutes, and would eventually fall back again as the riders raced east into the heavy rain and the closing circuit of the Côte d'Eraffe (2.1km at 5%) and Mur de Huy (1.3km at 9.6%).
Jousseaume was the first man dropped from the break as they hit the Mur de Huy for the first time 93km from the finish. Behind them, the peloton rode at 1:30 behind in dreadful conditions, with the heavy rain at one point interrupted by snowfall.
That climb would spell the beginning of the end for the move out front, with several riders dropping away after the hill and over the Eraffe for a second time. Calmejane was the last man standing, though he'd be caught 70km out, a handful of kilometres before the Mur.
It was the second passage of the climb that saw the next moves being made at the front as Søren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) soloed away from the much-reduced peloton, pulling out a one-minute gap.
Behind the Dane, only around 30 riders were left in the main group heading into the final 50km as riders abandoned left, right, and centre with team buses situated at the top of the Mur de Huy proving irresistible in the conditions on the circuit.
Kragh Andersen made a real go of it up front, cresting the Mur for a third time at 1:25 up on the chasers and heading into the final 30km lap still out in front. Behind him, though it was Williams who was making moves on the steep slopes.
He and Buitrago were among the riders showing their strength on the climb, making an attack that would take Carapaz, Van Gils, and Vauquelin along. It was a move that would foreshadow the end of the race, with four of the riders involved finishing the day in the top five at the finish.
The group pushed on ahead of the peloton and closed in on Kragh Andersen as Uno-X Mobility led the chase with five men on the front. It was a show of strength from the Scandinavian team, who saw all seven men finish on a day where no other team had more than four finishers and numerous teams – including Ineos Grenadiers, Intermarché-Wanty, and UAE Team Emirates – see all seven of their men abandon.
They'd eventually get their way and bring the Williams group back 17km from the finish, while Kragh Andersen's brave attempt came to an end 3km later to leave a peloton of just 36 to race the final.
It had been an atypical edition of La Flèche Wallonne, with only 44 riders eventually making it to the end, but the finish – a group of riders sprinting in slow motion up the Mur de Huy – was more familiar.
On the way up, the usual mix of mountain goats and puncheurs established themselves at the front, even if favourites such as Tom Pidcock, Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose, and Aleksandr Vlasov had long since abandoned. On the final drive towards the line, it was Williams who surged clear, flying away from his rivals over the last quarter of the brutal hill to seal a famous victory.
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