VIDEO: Tom Pidcock, Marc Hirschi, Mattias Skjelmose and more favourites struggling already at cold and wet La Fleche Wallonne
CyclingWednesday, 17 April 2024 at 15:03
The horrific weather conditions are playing havoc with the pre-race favourites' chances at La Fleche Wallonne 2024. Among those struggling already are the likes of Tom Pidcock, Mattias Skjelmose and Marc Hirschi.
With around 60km still to go, last Sunday's Amstel Gold Race winner, Pidcock is already in difficulty, out the back on the Mur de Huy and not looking incredibly happy either. With Liege-Bastogne-Liege coming up this Sunday, could the INEOS Grenadiers leader abandon early to rest up for the weekend?
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Skjelmose meanwhile, runner-up to Tadej Pogacar at La Fleche Wallonne last year was caught out in the crosswinds and after mounting a massive effort to get back into contact with the front on the flat, the Lidl-Trek leader immediately began to struggle on the climb.
As did, former La Fleche Wallonne winner, UAE Team Emirates' Marc Hirschi. The Swiss national champion was seemingly the protected rider of UAE in the early portion of the race but doesn't look like matching his 2nd place from Amstel Gold Race last weekend.
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- yes, the position of Wout is more complicated, many more factors.
maria2024202417-04-2025 - so excited about thismij17-04-2025
- Maybe Wout isn’t made for peaking so many times a year, few others have years like that. This winter was different due to accidents but if I were him and wanted to get some monuments I’d go on a cyclocross hiatusMistermaumau17-04-2025
- Well, one of those years that was less than 4 minutes, which over 86 hours makes less than 0,1% or about 4 seconds per hour. I don’t know about you but when I ride the same bike over the same path on two different days for an hour, I can’t tell if I’m faster or slower unless it’s by a minute, maybe 30 seconds if I really really pay attention, and he was pretty sure about noticing the difference, for me that sounds bigger than 4s/hour.Mistermaumau17-04-2025
- It appears so, TDF LEGEND BETTER ON RECOVERY AND SHORTER RACES NO SHAME BUT JUST DIFF MACHINE :)TOBY8017-04-2025
- If I were his “agent” I’d approach him personally and not go through a media backdoor ;-)Mistermaumau17-04-2025
- Yes, BUT, often there are already thoughts sown and the crash is just a trigger. With Wout? Feeling ageing, getting bored, girlfriend pressure, legal case depression, lost hope in rivalry with MVDP, no clear position in team, no vision for his future, outside pressure, media/paparazzi, there are soooo many things that could be starting to get to him too much.Mistermaumau17-04-2025
- Yeah but you know old habits die hard, some always forget there’s a whole other gender out there who often outdo men in certain aspects.Mistermaumau17-04-2025
- If it's true, it's very sad. Generally, when a cyclist reaches this point of being afraid of falling, they usually end up retiring after a short time.maria2024202417-04-2025
- Brian Holm is linked to Lefevre's team - he'd go well being the No. 1 there... given they're a classics team
leedorney17-04-2025