Flèche Wallonne 2026 preview, profiles, favourites & predictions - Will Paul Seixas win on the Mur de Huy or will there be a surprise?

On the 22nd of April the peloton tackles the second of the Ardennes classics: La Flèche Wallonne. The Belgian classic is marked by the multiple ascents of the famous Mur de Huy, the only one of the week's tryptic that features a summit finish. We preview the race ahead.

The race was created in 1936 with Philémon De Meersman taking the first win; and Marcel Kint taking three triumphs consecutively less than 10 years before it was created. Rik van Steenbergen, Fausto Coppi, Raymond Poulidor, Eddy Merckx, Rik van Looy, Roger de Vlaeminck, Francesco Moser, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Laurence Armstrong and Laurent Jalabert are amongst the winners of this race.

There is a combination of classics specialists and climbers that have won this race including Davide Rebellin, Cadel Evans, Philippe Gilbert, Alejandro Valverde (four times from 2014 to 2017)... The most recent editions have been won by Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi, Dylan Teuns, Tadej Pogacar and Stephen Williams. In 2025 Pogacar took a comfortable win with a seated attack on the Mur de Huy.

205 kilometers and 3100 meters of climbing. That is the data you’ve got for this race, it is one that doesn’t feature any long ascent however it does feature a lot of rolling roads throughout the entire route. It's a classic that suits the pure puncheurs and also some climbers, a race which is frequently quite controlled and sees a sprint finish up the very steep ramps of the final climb. The race starts in Chey, and has more climbing and distance than last year's route due to the return of the Còte de Cherave.

This however has proven to be over the year a race which is only decided in the final climb, hence most favourites will just ride as conservatively as possibly until that point whilst their teams to the work to control the race. The race is decided on a circuit, of which there will be three laps of 37 kilometers in distance.

In each lap we've got the Côte d'Ereffe, summiting with 18.5 kilometers to go, having 2.2 kilometers at 5.4%. A small hilltop follows, but then the very fast and furious run-in to the Mur de Huy begins and that is where the race will be decided. Before getting there, there will be the Côte de Cherave which is 1.3 kilometers long at 7%, ending with 5.5 to go.

A grind, an ascent that gets steeper all the way up. It’s a pure anaerobic effort, and is ideal for the lightweight puncheurs and climbers. The ascent is 1.2 kilometers long at 10.3% and gets steeper and steeper towards the finish line. It's an effort that is gradually upped all the way. The fight into the bottom of the climb is every year very intense, and once there it's usually a lead up into the spring. The final 300 meters are very steep and so riders frequently try slightly earlier, but a long-range attack is unlikely to succeed.

Paul Seixas starts as the main favourite, although that is because of the form he showed at Itzulia Basque Country. On paper, this is not a race that suits him down perfectly, although the climb to Huy is much more suited to the climbers than the terrain of Amstel Gold Race. Hence this is ultimately a race that doesn't have a 'man to beat'. But it's Flèche Wallonne, a race which doesn't ordinarily have many tactics involved, just a long waiting game amongst the main favourites, a positioning battle into the climb and then throwing whatever's left at its brutal gradients.

Then on the climber's side you definitely have a few names standing out, such as Lenny Martínez who's had a superb spring and whose featherweight build is perfect for these brutal ramps; Mattias Skjelmose who has shown great form at Amstel Gold Race and has here an even bigger chance to win in the absence of a Remco Evenepoel; and I would say Kévin Vauquelin who's been second on the last two editions whilst racing for Arkéa and now, with INEOS backing him up, may have the chance of a lifetime to win a big classic.

Daniel Martínez, Jai Hindley, Yannis Voisard, Pello Bilbao, Tobias Joahnnessen, Ramses Debruyne, Lennert van Eetvelt, Jorgen Nordhagen, Ben Tulett, Alex Baudin, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Ilan van Wilder, Pavel Sivakov, Ion Izagirre and Cian Uijtdebroeks are similar riders who will also be hoping for the race to be as hard as possible from early on to remove the sting from the puncheurs' legs.

Because on that side then you have some very meaningful favourites as well. Take Romain Grégoire, who made the winning move at Amstel Gold Race; and two days earlier was also the one to attack and create the favourites' group at De Brabtantse Pijl. This race is less explosive, but he is going to be a major threat to everyone without a doubt.

I believe Mauro Schmid has a lot to give which wasn't seen at Amstel, Benoìt Cosnefroy may be UAE's big leader after what he did there; and from Christian Scaroni we can also realistically anticipate a victory if the Italian has his best legs.

More on the classics specialists side we also have Finn Fisher-Black, Julian Alaphilippe, Anthon Charmig, Andreas Kron, Clément Champussin, Mauri Vansevenant, Tim Wellens, Dylan Teuns and Iván Romeo.

*** Paul Seixas, Lenny Martínez, Mattias Skjelmose

** Romain Grégoire, Kévin Vauquelin, Christian Scaroni

* Pello Bilbao, Tobias Johannessen, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Ion Izagirre, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Mauro Schmid, Benoît Cosnefroy, Clément Champoussin, Mauri Vansevenant, Alex Baudin

Pick: Lenny Martínez

How: The best on the steep climb.