Stevie Williams won a cold and wet La Flèche Wallonne after putting in a lacerating attack with 250m to go on the Mur de Huy, to become the first male British winner of the Belgian Classic.
Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) were second and third, with Vauquelin almost catching Israel-Premier Tech rider Williams to finish in the same time, and Van Gils three seconds back.
The final climb was contested by a peloton that had been much-reduced by brutal weather conditions, including single-figure temperatures, northerly winds, driving rain and even snow. All of them resorted to jackets, and many – including winner Williams, who rides for Israel-Premier Tech – also wore leg warmers.
So attritional was the race that just 44 riders were recorded as finishing, and not a single rider from the Ineos Grenadiers, UAE Team Emirates, Jayco-AlUla or Intermarché-Wanty teams completing the 198.6km event. Certainly, it will go down as one of the hardest editions in memory – added to by the fact that riders tackled four ascents of the Mur de Huy for the first time.
It is all credit to Welshman Williams that on such a day he registered the best British men's result since Tom Simpson was third in 1965.
"What a day, I’m so happy right now, I can’t believe I’ve just won Flèche," the 27-year-old said afterwards, still looking slightly shell shocked and brutalised by the weather.
"I’ve been watching this race for years and I came here with decent legs to try and win. I do enjoy racing in this kind of weather, and to come away with the victory, I’m just over the moon. The boys backed me all day and gave me the best chance to come away with the result… It’s really special."
Explaining how the final climb panned out, he said: "Everyone was waiting at 300m to go. I thought if I could get a jump, put 10 seconds into the group and see the line, it would give me a chance to hold on. I was looking around a bit and the legs were empty, but I’m really happy I held on.
He added: "I’m exhausted and lost for words. Quite emotional really, it’s a really hard sport. It’s hard to win bike races, especially these Classics."
Williams won the Tour Down Under overall in January, after taking the final stage to Mount Lofty.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The peloton rode out from Charleroi in sunshine, but with dark clouds on the horizon hinting and what was to come.
An early break of six riders established itself early on, but was eventually caught by the chasing bunch – led by UAE Team Emirates – at around 70km to go.
After which the race began to splinter, with riders falling off the pace due to the inclement conditions and others attacking off the front. Unsurprisingly, it was the repeated ascents of the Mur de Huy – four in total – that had the most significant effect. Notably, Søren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) slipped away from the bunch after the second time up the steep, kilometre-long climb and went on to establish a significant gap that led the narrative for much of the second half of the race.
Andersen gradually began to shed layers as the weather brightened towards the end of the race, but he also shed time, with Visma-Lease A Bike and UnoX-Mobility marshalling the troops in the final 25km.
With 20km to go the gap was down to not much more than 20 seconds, and the catch was made six kilometres later by a much-reduced peloton that by now was only 36-strong.
The race then became flèche by name, flèche by nature as the riders lined it out in an arrow format as they pushed towards the final climb of the Huy.
RESULTS
1. Stevie Williams (GBR) Israel-Premier Tech in 4:40:24
2. Kévin Vauquelin (FRA) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, st
3. Maxim Van Gils (BEL) Lotto-Dstny, +3sec
4. Benoît Cosnefroy (FRA) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, st
5. Santiago Buitrago (COL) Bahrain Victorious, st
6. Tobias Johannessen (NOR) Uno-X Mobility, +10sec
7. Romain Grégoire (FRA) Groupama-FDJ, st
8. Dorian Godon (FRA) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondia, st
9. Tiesj Benoot (BEL) Visma-Lease A Bike, st
10. Guillaume Martin (FRA) Cofidis, st
