Profile & Route Flèche Wallonne 2024

On April 17th, the second of the Ardennes classics unfolds: the Flèche Wallonne. This Belgian classic is renowned for its spectacular and grueling finale up the Mur de Huy. Let's examine its profile.

198 kilometers and 2700 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 west of Huy this year in Charleroi, and has slightly less climbing meters despite the longer distance.

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, in which the riders will ride 4 laps of with 31.5 kilometers in distance.

The Côte de Cherave has been removed this year, and so we have the traditional final circuit back featuring only two climbs. They are significantly different, but even the presence of one more lap. In each lap we've got the Côte d'Ereffe, summiting with 13 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.

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.