After 4th at Dwars Door Vlaanderen and 3rd at the Amstel Gold Race, another top-10 continues a very impressive spring classics campaign for the 30-year-old. "Considering the conditions, I felt good today," Benoot stated. "I haven't often felt so cold during a race. As the final climb approached, I felt better. But in the end the legs did run empty. All in all, a top-ten place in La Fleche Wallonne remains an excellent result. I'm heading optimistically to next Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège."
"I am proud of how the men showed themselves today. They made the race hard and stood by Tiesj until the end. For riders like
Johannes Staune-Mittet,
Tim van Dijke and
Loe van Belle, who were part of our Development Team in previous years, this was a very instructive day given the weather conditions," adds sports director Arthur van Dongen. "We deserved maybe a little more than that ninth place, but the Mur de Huy doesn't lie."