La Flèche Wallonne
Philippe Demeersman (BEL) | |
| Most wins |  Alejandro Valverde (ESP) (5 wins) |
|---|---|
| Most recent |  Stephen Williams (GBR) |
La Flèche Wallonne (pronounced [la flɛʃ walɔn], French for "The Walloon Arrow")[1] is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium.
The first of two Belgian
History
La Flèche Wallonne was created to boost the sales of a newspaper Les Sports during the 1930s and was first run in 1936. While perhaps not as revered as one of the five Classic '
Like many cycle race events, the course has altered considerably over the years, both in route and length. The event was first run on roads from Tournai to Liège (growing from 236 km to 300 km — its longest ever distance — in 1938), after which Mons became the starting point. From 1948, the race started at Charleroi; from 1960 the event ran in the opposite direction, starting at Liège and finishing at Charleroi (or, from 1965, Marcinelle). Some years have seen the event start and finish in the same place: Verviers (1974–1978) or Huy (1983–1985). From 1986, the race started in Spa and finished in Huy. Since 1990, the race distance has not exceeded 210 km.
Since its inception, it has been held every year except 1940, due to World War II. In 2020, it was rescheduled to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, the event starts in Charleroi and heads east to Huy, where the riders do three laps of a tough circuit including the steep Mur de Huy (the Wall of Huy) climb, with several sections steeper than 15% and up to 26% on one section. The finish is at the top of the Mur after the third ascent, and ascent of 'the Mur' is considered the iconic and emblematic feature of the race.
Alejandro Valverde has won the race a record five times. Five riders have won the race three times, two of them Belgians, two Italians, and one Frenchman. Five riders have won the race in back to back years. Indeed, Belgian riders dominated the early years of the event, winning the first 11 editions of the race, and slightly less than half of the editions in total (38 victories up to and including 2011). Italians have won the event 18 times.
Winners
Multiple winners
Riders in italics are still active
| Wins | Rider | Editions |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Alejandro Valverde (ESP) |
2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
| 3 |  Marcel Kint (BEL) |
1943, 1944, 1945 |
| Eddy Merckx (BEL) |
1967, 1970, 1972 | |
 Moreno Argentin (ITA) |
1990, 1991, 1994 | |
| Davide Rebellin (ITA) |
2004, 2007, 2009 | |
 Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) |
2018, 2019, 2021 | |
| 2 |  Ferdinand Kübler (SUI) |
1951, 1952 |
| Stan Ockers (BEL) |
1953, 1955 | |
| Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) |
1949, 1958 | |
| André Dierickx (BEL) |
1973, 1975 | |
| Bernard Hinault (FRA) |
1979, 1983 | |
| Claude Criquielion (BEL) |
1985, 1989 | |
| Laurent Jalabert (FRA) |
1995, 1997 |
Wins per country
| Wins | Country |
|---|---|
| 39 | Belgium
|
| 18 | Italy
|
| 11 | France
|
| 8 | Spain
|
| 3 |  Switzerland
|
| 2 |  Denmark
|
| 1 |  Australia Germany Great Britain Luxembourg Netherlands Slovenia United States
|
References
- ^ "Spring Classics: How to win cycling's hardest one-day races". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
External links
- Official website
- La Flèche Wallonne palmares at Cycling Archives