Remco Evenepoel headlines our seven-man squad for the 89th edition of the race.
Flèche Wallonne celebrates this year four decades since the first time it finished atop the Mur de Huy, forever changing the Belgian Classic’s nature and the way it’s raced. The legendary climb, which averages 9.6% over just 1.3 kilometers, will be tackled three times by the peloton on Wednesday, the last of these ascents coming after more than 200 kilometers from the start.
The demanding sequence of Côte d’Ereffe – Côte de Cherave – Mur de Huy promises to have a big impact on the World Tour race, which gets underway for the first time from Ciney, a small town in the province of Namur, that 55 years ago hosted the start of a Tour de France stage.
Remco Evenepoel – who last week won Brabantse Pijl before riding to an impressive third place at Amstel Gold Race – will compete in Flèche Wallonne for just the second time in his career, part of a very strong Soudal Quick-Step team that is set to include also Pascal Eenkhoorn, Junior Lecerf, Maximilian Schachmann – a top ten finisher on the Mur de Huy on three occasions – Pieter Serry, Ilan Van Wilder and Mauri Vansevenant.
“We have a strong and experienced squad, led by Remco, who has shown again last Sunday that he is in good shape. The local circuit and the presence of Cherave will make the race a bit harder and could see some teams push a big tempo there in order to make things difficult for others. After our most recent results, we have a lot of motivation and we hope to get a good result again”, said sports director Klaas Lodewyck.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
