2021 Fleche Wallonne – Highlights, Report, Results
Highlights
Women’s Race
Men’s Race
Report
Women’s Race
It was the big question before the start. Can world champion Anna van der Breggen win La Flèche Wallonne for a 7th time? After a frightening battle on the Mur of Huy between Kasia Niewiadoma and ‘VDB’ the answer is yes. She can win this classic in the Ardennes for the 7th time. An historical achievement!
At 8:30 hours the peloton rolled out of Huy for their race over 130 kilometers with finish on top of the Mur de Huy. After the first passage of the finish the race the race exploded with a lot of attacks. Ruth Winder of Trek-Segafredo get a decent lead but due to the great chase of Demi Vollering, the following group with a lot of top riders could come back at the bottom of the final climb.
It was Anna van der Breggen who set pace, with only Kasia Niewiadoma who could follow. Side by side they rode to the finish, but in the final 100 meters Anna gave an extra punch and could cross the finish line first.
“The race was hard, from the beginning on”, Van der Breggen said directly after the finish. “We made some tactical mistakes in the race, that’s why we had to chase. But the team did really great to close the gap. I’m really happy that I can do it still and could take this win. This was the most difficult win out of 7, because of the chase. It was a good battle with Kasia, she was strong! It’s a strange thought that this is my last time to race the Flèche Wallonne. Next time I won’t bother the girls anymore. It’s up to somebody else. I’m really happy to end up like this. Seven straight wins. It’s incredible!”
Men’s Race
Julian Alaphilippe got his third victory in the rainbow jersey, and the biggest since becoming World Champion, after one of the best and most thrilling finishes in Flèche Wallonne history. It’s his third Fleche Wallonne victory in his last three attempts (2018, 2019, 2021).
More to follow.
Results
Women’s Race
| 1 | Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Team SD Worx | 3:28:27 |
| 2 | Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing | 0:00:02 |
| 3 | Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:06 |
| 4 | Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women | |
| 5 | Mavi Garcia (Spa) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana | 0:00:22 |
| 6 | Juliette Labous (Fra) Team DSM | 0:00:28 |
| 7 | Ruth Winder (USA) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:31 |
| 8 | Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope | 0:00:32 |
| 9 | Amanda Spratt (Aus) Team BikeExchange | 0:00:35 |
| 10 | Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx | 0:00:42 |
Men’s Race
| 1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 4:36:25 |
| 2 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma | |
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:06 |
| 4 | Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation | 0:00:08 |
| 5 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | 0:00:11 |
| 6 | Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | |
| 7 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
| 8 | Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Team BikeExchange | |
| 9 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | |
| 10 | Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:00:16 |