The Italian left a good impression in just his second outing at the Belgian Classic.
The second of the Ardennes Classics was once again decided on the excruciating slopes of the Mur de Huy, this despite the presence of ten climbs before the final time up this legendary hill and some attacks that tried to shake things up and prevent the race from following its usual scenario.
After the riders rolled out of Herstal, a small town located just north of Liège, and left behind a short neutralised sector, a breakaway swiftly formed and stayed off the front until the closing kilometers of this 90th edition, the last of the six men in that group being reeled in just seven kilometers from home.
Unfortunately for Flèche Wallonne debutant Valentin Paret-Peintre, he couldn’t fight for a good result due to a mechanical on his back wheel. Despite losing the Frenchman, Soudal Quick-Step continued to do a great job after Côte de Cherave - the penultimate hurdle of the day - bringing Filippo Zana in a good position ahead of the third and final ascent of the Mur de Huy, and the former Italian Champion didn’t disappoint, concluding not far from the top ten in what was the fastest edition of the last 18 years.
Victorious at the Giro di Sardegna earlier this season, the 27-year-old left everything out there and dug deep when the gradient began to bite after the famous S-bend, coming home in a strong 12th place, just ten seconds behind Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), who took the win.
Hats off to the team for putting me in a great position at the foot of the Mur.
“I was in the top five there and felt good as the climb started, but then I hit a wall in the last 200 meters and couldn’t match the speed of the others. It’s a bit frustrating to have been so close to the top ten, but I’ll try to take the positives from this race for Sunday”, Filippo explained at the finish.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
