Tadej Pogacar wins the Flèche Wallone semi-classic in superior style. After 205 kilometers, the Slovenian rider came out on top ahead of Kévin Vauquelin and Thomas Pidcock.
23.04.2025, 16:55
23.04.2025, 18:17
SDA
After the small disappointment of 2nd place in the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, Pogacar struck back impressively in the second of the three important Ardennes races within a few days. The road world champion pulled away from his remaining rivals on the steepest section of the notorious final climb of the Flèche Wallone around 400 m before the finish, distancing the Frenchman Vauquelin, who came second last year, by ten seconds and the British mountain biker Pidcock from the Swiss team Q36.5 by twelve seconds. The highly rated Belgians Thibau Nys and Remco Evenepoel had to settle for 8th and 9th place.
After a strong race in adverse weather conditions, Swiss champion Mauro Schmid finished just behind the Belgian duo in tenth place in Huy. A second Swiss rider, Jan Christen (13th), made it into the top 15. The young rider from Aargau impressed in his first race since breaking his collarbone at the beginning of March as Pogacar's helper. The 20-year-old set a fast pace at the front of the field on the last two climbs before his leader in the UAE Team Emirates rode away to victory.
For Pogacar, it is his second success at La Flèche Wallone since 2023 and an impressive statement ahead of the highlight of the Ardennes week with Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the oldest of the five cycling monuments.
There was no top place for the Swiss team Tudor, which had two former winners at the start with Marc Hirschi and Julian Alaphilippe. Alaphilippe finished 22nd and Hirschi 49th.