Stevie Williams 1st, Kevin Vauquelin 2nd, Maxim Van Gils 3rd. Not quite the names we usually see on the podium of La Fleche Wallonne so I quite like this. 👍 Brutal edition in rain and cold. #FlecheWallonne
"I can't believe I just won Fleche" - Emotional and exhausted Stephen Williams 'over the moon' with La Fleche Wallonne victory
CyclingWednesday, 17 April 2024 at 16:34
Stephen Williams continues to impress in 2024. After his overall victory at the Tour Down Under earlier this year, the Welshman has powered to a fabulous victory at La Fleche Wallonne this Wednesday afternoon.
"What a day. I'm so happy right now and I can't believe I just won Fleche. I've been watching this race for years and I've always wanted to come here with decent legs to try and win," reflected the Israel - Premier Tech star post-race having battled not only his rivals throughout the day but also the simply disgusting weather conditions that plagued a number of the pre-race favourites.
Not that the weather was anything that bothered Williams himself. "I love racing in this kind of weather and to come away with the victory, I'm just over the moon," he continues. "The boys backed me all day and gave me the best chance to get a result today. To come away with the win here is special, really special."
With a group of around 30 still together at the start of the final ascent of the Mur de Huy, Williams stayed patient before launching with around 300m to go. "Everyone was kind of just waiting. When I saw the 300m to go sign I thought I could get a jump and 5 or 10 seconds on the group, then seeing the line it gave me a good chance to hold on," Williams explains. "I was looking around a bit because the legs were empty but yeah, really happy to hold on and win."
"I'm exhausted now. I'm lost for words and quite emotional really. To win bike races is hard, especially in these Classics," the Welshman concludes.
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- Amazing ride by her and very promising for her future. On a side note, it’s a bit worrying all these wins riders have after emotional moments in their lives, someone will come up with emotional doping at some point. Maybe give them fake news just before a big race to get hormones pumping.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- I doubt he will have the energy to do that if he continues to do leadout for Phillipsenabstractengineer22-12-2024
- I know several people who’ve tried contacting sport airbag manufacturers and none of them ever got a reply. Might be hard to organise anything with such attitudes.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- It's the BBC. Who cares outside of little Britain.leodis22-12-2024
- Crawl back under your stone.leodis22-12-2024
- Thanks Dadmobk22-12-2024
- Hard to believe with the advancment of modern medicine he can not find a cause for this.frieders321-12-2024
- You continue to platform these two cheats. With that in mind I can no longer use your site. I know my leaving means little, but, sometimes you have to take a stand. See ya!DJ21-12-2024
- Look at what Froome’s won since his last TdF, stop denying there is still more than possible one outcome to the future.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- Bruyneel understands nothing about clean competition.Sweep21-12-2024