With the cobbled Classics season behind us, the men's and women's pelotons have decamped to the hills of the Ardennes to take on the Ardennes triple – the recent Amstel Gold Race in the Dutch province of Limburg, and the Walloon double of La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Each race has a different character, and very different parcours, though all feature a host of hills suited to the climbers and puncheurs of the peloton.
La Flèche Wallonne, based around the town of Huy, features one of the most fearsome hills on the calendar in the form of the Mur de Huy. The ascent, included three times in the men's race and twice in the women's, measures in at a scary 1.3km at 9.6%, including a maximum gradient of 18%.
A host of big names will be taking on the famous climb on Wednesday afternoon, and here we take a look at the favourites for the men's La Flèche Wallonne and La Flèche Wallonne Femmes.
Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM)
French youngster Paul Seixas is the new hot young thing in the men's peloton, the 19-year-old ascending to levels of hype unseen by a teenager in this sport.
Seixas has enjoyed a stunning start to 2026, winning a stage en route to finishing second at the Volta ao Algarve, soloing for 42km to win the Faun-Ardèche Classic, and briefly matching Tadej Pogačar before finishing second at Strade Bianche.
And that was all before his dominant ride at Itzulia Basque Country, where Seixas won three stages and all four jerseys as he won the overall title by the largest margin since Aitor Osa in 2002 – four years before he was even born.
Seixas comes into La Flèche Wallonne looking in unstoppable form. He'll face off against Pogačar once again in Liège, the race he won as a junior two years ago, but in the meantime, he'll line up as one of the top favourites on the Mur de Huy.
Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ)
Demi Vollering has been the rider of the spring so far, racking up five wins, including the Tour of Flanders and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, both first-time victories for the Dutchwoman.
The European champion started her season with two stages and the overall at the Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana in a dominant overall victory. She then switched her attention to the Classics, beating Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney in a two-woman sprint at Omloop.
A wrong turn at Strade Bianche left her and several other favourites out of contention for victory, while at Dwars door Vlaanderen, she was second in the sprint behind Marlen Reusser.
Vollering recently soloed home from the Oude Kwaremont to score the biggest win of her year to date at De Ronde. She was third at Amstel Gold Race at the weekend, too. A third win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège is her main goal this week, but before then, she lines up among the top favourites at La Flèche Wallonne, where she's won before.
Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech)
Dutch youngster Puck Pieterse returns to defend her title on Wednesday, the 23-year-old leading Fenix-Premier Tech as she looks to finish the quickest atop the Mur de Huy for the second year in a row.
Last spring, she scored a huge win by beating a host of more experienced and decorated names, including Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini, and Niewiadoma-Phinney, to the line. She looks in good form to be up there once again this week.
Pieterse has raced six days so far in 2026, all one-day outings. She hasn't taken a win yet, but highlights include a podium at the Tour of Flanders, fourth at Milan-San Remo, and sixth at Strade Bianche. Last year, she enjoyed a similar run of strong results heading into Ardennes week, so be sure to look out for Pieterse once again.
Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers)
Ineos Grenadiers newcomer Kévin Vauquelin is another rising star from France on our list. The 24-year-old has twice finished second at La Flèche Wallonne, so he's logically a favourite to score a similar result once again.
Vauquelin was – like everyone else – handily beaten by Tadej Pogačar last year, and narrowly missed out to Stephen Williams in 2024. This Wednesday, there'll be no Pogačar, thankfully for him, though Seixas's participation will provide some cause for alarm.
Vauquelin heads into the race with a good start to the season behind him, though his most recent outings include being comprehensively beaten by Seixas at Itzulia Basque Country and crashing out of the lead group at Amstel Gold Race. Highlights of Vauquelin's stage race-heavy spring to date include fifth at the Volta ao Algarve and fourth at Paris-Nice.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto)
Polish road champion Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney heads into the Ardennes Classics as a rider aiming to finish off the Ardennes triple, becoming only the third woman to do so after Vollering and Anna van der Breggen.
She already has a win at La Flèche Wallonne to her name, of course, having beaten Vollering to the top of the Mur de Huy two years ago. Instead, this week, she'll be prioritising Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a first win at La Doyenne.
Before Sunday, she figures to be in the mix for Flèche once again, though. At Amstel Gold Race, she returned to racing following a horrible race-ending crash at Milan-San Remo – she led the chase home for second behind winner Paula Blasi. Before that outing, she showed her class with second places at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche, but she'll be hoping to take her first win of 2026 in Huy.
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek)
A year ago, Danish rider Mattias Skjelmose scored his biggest one-day victory to date, becoming one of the very few riders to get the better of Tadej Pogačar in recent seasons, beating him and Remco Evenepoel to the line at Amstel Gold Race.
Now, he returns to the Ardennes as a top favourite, having also finished second at La Flèche Wallonne back in 2023. Back then, he lost out to Pogačar, though the Slovenian won't stand in his way this Wednesday.
Skjelmose hadn't had the best season start before last Sunday, with seventh at the Volta a Catalunya his standout result to date. He put in some promising results at the recent Itzulia Basque Country, taking second on stage 2, albeit 1:25 down on stage winner Seixas, and taking the combativity award on the final day, and followed that up with his best performance so far in 2026, taking second at Amstel Gold Race behind Evenepoel in a two-up sprint.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Following her triumphs at Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France Femmes last season, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot said that she'd be prioritising the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège this spring.
The Frenchwoman has raced three days so far in 2026, taking second in Flanders behind Vollering and third in Paris-Roubaix Femmes. Now, the Ardennes are in her sights, and she returns to La Flèche Wallonne as one of several former winners of the race.
Ferrand-Prévot hasn't raced Flèche since 2018, but she won the race four years earlier, beating Lizzie Deignan to the top of the Mur de Huy. Liège, where she finished seventh in 2018, will be her main goal, but she's certainly among the top favourites to win here.
Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Benoit Cosnefroy replaces Remco Evenepoel on our list after the Belgian confirmed he wouldn't be taking part as he instead turns his focus to Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
The Frenchman has both history and form on his side in Huy. Back in 2020, he finished second, while two years ago he took fourth place, showing he knows how to tackle the fearsome closing ascent.
Recent results have included a pair of podium finishes at Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race. At the former, he sprinted to third as part of the large front group, while at the latter, he led home the chase behind Evenepoel and Mattias Skjelmose. He's another French rider to keep an eye on on Wednesday.
Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime)
In any conversation about La Flèche Wallonne, it's impossible to ignore Anna van der Breggen. Once upon a time, the Dutchwoman was unbeatable on the Mur de Huy, racking up seven wins in a row between 2015 and 2021.
Her most recent triumph, though, did come five years ago now, with a three-year retirement lying between that win and her return to racing last year. There's been plenty to celebrate since she came back, including podiums at Strade Bianche, the Vuelta España Femenina, and the Worlds time trial.
Van der Breggen isn't quite back to her dominant best, however, and at the age of 35, it's unlikely she'll ever return to those commanding displays of 2015-2021. A second place at the Trofeo Binda stands out as her top result in 2026, and, if she's up there among the favourites on the Mur, she'll be a watched woman.
Others to watch
Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) is firmly a climber to watch this year following last summer. Her standout result in 2026 is a second place at the Volta Valenciana.
Second at the Volta a Catalunya, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) is well-suited to this race, finishing fourth on his debut last spring.
Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez) will likely start as a luxury domestique for Vollering on Wednesday, but he previous best results of two seventh-place finishes and a sixth place make her a top contender.
Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We'll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Find out more.
