19/04/2023

Tadej Pogacar wins Fléche Wallone with powerful sprint up Mur de Huy, Skjelmose and Landa complete podium

Tadej Pogacar has won the 2023 Fléche Wallone. The man to beat had the race under control and in the Mur de Huy he was the fastest, beating Mattias Skjelmose and Mikel Landa with a solid gap into the line.

With the wind blowing and several climbs early in the day a strong group managed to go clear of the peloton. A race where the breakaway doesn't usually threaten the day's result but several big figures were present. Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Daryl Impey (Israel - Premier Tech), Soren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Raúl García Pierna (Equipo Kern Pharma), Johan Meens (Bingoal WB), Lawrence Naesen (AG2R Citroën Team), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Jacob Hindsgaul (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) formed the group.

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The gap went up to four minutes but it never grew further, with UAE taking most of the responsibility in the peloton when it came to the chase for the man to beat Tadej Pogacar. In the final 80 kilometers the breakaway began to lose riders as the peloton entered the final circuit.

In the small climbs that would follow the breakaway would be reduced to only three riders, with Soren Kragh Andersen and Georg Zimmermann riding through as some small moves came from the peloton. With 37 kilometers to go the riders went through the Mur de Huy for the penultimate time, with Samuele Battistella launching a powerful attack that would line up the whole peloton.

After the climb the Italian and Louis Vervaeke attacked from the peloton, joining the leading duo shortly after. Zimmermann was dropped at the Côte d'Ereffe as UAE Team Emirates controlled the attacks in the peloton, where a nasty crash took out riders such as Neilson Powless, Victor Lafay and Andreas Kron. The gap was rolling around the 30 seconds as a near-compact peloton began to approach Cherave.

UAE Team Emirates kicked up a notch at the base of the climb, not allowing attacks to try and anticipate a move towards the Mur de Huy. The acceleration from Ulissi and Hirschi caught all the survivors from the breakaway except for Vervaeke who maintained a very strong pace over the summit.

UAE and Israel - Premier Tech had a good run-up into the Mur, where Vervaeke was caught in the first ramps. Woods and Pogacar took the head of the group as the gradients began to bite, with no-one launching an early attack. The outcome was written all over, Romain Bardet launched an early sprint but Tadej Pogacar looked comfortable in the wheel, and in the final 150 meters he launched his own move, taking a dominant win.

Mattias Skjelmose and Mikel Landa rode to second and third on the road albeit a couple of seconds back, completing the podium both with surprisingly positive performances.