Axel Laurance produced one of the most unusual moments of La Flèche Wallonne 2026, briefly abandoning his bike and running up the Côte d’Ereffe in scenes that immediately brought back memories of Chris Froome’s infamous Tour de France incident.
With the race entering its decisive phase, the INEOS Grenadiers rider was seen off his bike on the climb, running alongside it before eventually remounting and continuing his effort. While the circumstances were less chaotic than the moment involving Chris Froome during the Tour de France, the visual comparison was impossible to ignore.
A rare sight in modern racing
Moments like these have become increasingly rare in modern professional cycling, where mechanical support, race radios and team cars usually ensure that riders are back up and running quickly. In Laurance’s case, the exact cause of the incident was not immediately clear, but the image of a rider forced to run mid-race, even briefly, stood out in a race otherwise defined by control and positioning ahead of the Mur de Huy.
Read also
Froome’s iconic moment still casts a long shadow
The comparison to Chris Froome inevitably points back to one of the most memorable scenes in recent cycling history, when the then Team Sky leader was forced to run up Mont Ventoux in the Maillot Jaune after a crash left him without a bike during one of the most chaotic stages of the Tour de France in the modern era.
That moment has since become part of cycling folklore, symbolising both the unpredictability of the sport and the instinctive reactions of riders under pressure.
Laurance’s brief run at Flèche Wallonne may not carry the same consequences, but it offered a striking reminder of just how quickly even the most controlled races can produce something completely unexpected.
See the Axel Laurance incident for yourself in the video down below!
Axel Laurance en prépa duathlon pic.twitter.com/sfhSC6s3s4
— Cycling Legend (@CyclingLegend_) April 22, 2026
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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