La Flèche Wallonne 2015 [FULL RACE]

April 22, 2015

La Flèche Wallonne 2015 – Waremme – Mur van Huy : 205,5 km

The 2015 men’s edition of Flèche Wallonne is set to be both a showdown between Tour de France specialists and Ardennes Classics stars, and also a homage to double Flèche Wallonne winner Claudy Criquielion, who died recently aged just 58. Like the other two Ardennes Classics, Flèche Wallonne is defined by its climbs and in particular – given the Belgian Classic is the only WorldTour race ending with a summit finish – its last. This Wednesday eleven climbs in total will pepper the 205.5 kilometre route of the 79th edition of the mid-week Classic, culminating with a triple ascent of the ultra-steep Mur de Huy. Set, as ever, to be lined with thousands of cheering fans, the ascent of the Mur is one of the most dramatic and hallowed in the cycling calendar, with the focal point of the 1.3 kilometre climb the well-known ‘S’ bend mid-way up. This particular chicane, by far the hardest of the Mur, sees the road’s gradient ramp up to a lung-bursting 24 per cent – and it is no coincidence that it is this point where numerous race-winning attacks have been launched in the past. Whether that will continue to be the case in 2015 is not so certain, though. The introduction of the new climb of la Cote de Cherave just before the Mur de Huy will hopefully end what has been a decade-long succession of overly predictable finales of a mass uphill sprint for the line.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) defended his La Flèche Wallonne title with a gutsy performance on the Mur de Huy. The Spaniard led from the front on the final climb and held off the challenges from Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep) and Michael Albasini (Orica GreenEdge) to win by a clear margin.

The win marked the Spaniard’s third win the race and came after Movistar reeled in a late attack from Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal), who broke clear on the penultimate climb of the Côte de Cherave, and survived into the final 500 metres.

Valverde used the catch of Wellens as the moment to confidently move to the front of the strung out group of favourites, and as the gradient began to bite world champion and pre-race favourite Michał Kwiatkowski started to lose ground.

The Katusha pairing of Dani Moreno and Joaquim Rodriguez desperately tried to hang onto Valverde’s coattails but they were too far back to respond, with the only the well-placed Albasini and surprise runner-up Alaphilippe able to muster any form of a challenge.

The Frenchman was too good for Albasini but by the time Valverde looked back he was clear of the rest and had plenty of time to savour another La Flèche Wallonne victory.

The race was, however, marred by series of crashes with former winner Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) forced to abandon. There were other falls for Daniel Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) and former Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Team Sky).

The addition of the Côte de Cherave, coming just before the Mur de Huy, played a part in reducing the depth of the field before the final climb of the Mur but Movistar and Valverde were never troubled, blending a mix of attack and defence that saw Giovanni Visconti form a dangerous late counter attack with Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) before the last two climbs.

Attacks from Vincenzo Nibali, Tejay van Garderen and Wellens soon followed but Movistar – with help from Lampe Merida, who were working for Rui Costa – neutralized anything that attempted to establish a lead.

How it unfolded

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Mike Teunissen (Team LottoNL-Jumbo), Brice Feillu (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), Jérôme Baugnies (Wanty – Groupe Gobert), Reinier Honig (Team Roompot), Daniele Ratto (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling), and Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Topsport) formed the day’s early break, jumping clear inside the opening 10 kilometres and establishing a healthy eight-minute lead over the peloton.

In near-perfect conditions the peloton eased into the task of organising a chase with Katusha and Movistar the first to oblige with turns on the front. Their efforts were merely to keep the break in check, rather than prepare an organised and concerted chase as up ahead De Gendt used his experience to set a steady pace on the opening climbs.

As the peloton approached the Mur de Huy for the first time Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) crossed wheels with Machado. The Irishman gingerly returned to his feet, and eventually the bunch, but his challenge was effectively over.

Team Sky made their presence at the front felt with British road champion Peter Kennaugh setting the pace for the peloton and the gap the break slipping to a more manageable five minutes.

Honig and Teunissen were unceremoniously dropped from the break soon after but the five remaining riders pressed on as Katusha, Etixx-QuickStep and Movistar emerged as the teams willing to control a more determined chase.

Disaster struck for Gilbert, when like Martin, he was taken down in another avoidable fall – the peloton visibly bunching together with parked cars either side of the road. Lars Petter Nordhaug, Wouter Poels (Sky), Ben King (Garmin-Cannondale), Amael Moinard (BMC) and Anthony Roux (FDJ) were caught in the next fall.

Up ahead, the five remaining leaders started the Mur’s second ascent with just a 50-second buffer on a rampaging peloton and by the time they crested the summit only Thomas De Gendt and Jerome Baugnies remained clear.

Visconti and Luis Leon Sanchez took the opportunity to drift clear of the bunch and latch onto the two leaders as they powered down the descent and the newly formed group established a twenty-second lead. With Movistar and Astana taking a breather, it fell to Katusha and Etixx to control the peloton.

On the slopes of the Ereffe, Tejay van Garderen accelerated clear but his efforts were in vain – unable to catch the leaders, he was swallowed up before the penultimate climb – the race’s new addition of the Côte de Cherave.

Visconti and Sanchez started the ascent with a slender lead and it was Nibali was attacked from the bunch first. He simply brought the pack closer to the leaders and provided Wellens with the platform to hit the peloton at the right moment.

Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) tried to give chase but the Italian was unable to keep Wellens in his sights as the Lotto Soudal rider led into the foot of the Mur.

The lead was no more than 15 seconds but any hope of a Lotto win were dashed as the gradient rose. Wellens’ fluidity in pedal stroke was instantly lost, as Lampre and Movistar gathered at the front of the peloton.

Results :
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 5:08:22
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
3 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge
4 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha
5 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha
6 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:04
7 Sergio Luis Henao (Col) Team Sky
8 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
9 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
10 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
11 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:08
12 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:10
13 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
14 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:13
15 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
16 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement 0:00:16
17 Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling
18 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
19 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:19
20 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
21 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
22 Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ.fr
23 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:22
24 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:00:23
25 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
26 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin
27 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky
28 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 0:00:28
29 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:30
30 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:36
31 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
32 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff-Saxo
33 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:38
34 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:42
35 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:00:43
36 Michel Kreder (Ned) Team Roompot 0:00:51
37 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:53
38 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
39 Serge Pauwels (Bel) MTN – Qhubeka 0:00:57
40 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:09
41 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 0:01:16
42 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Lampre-Merida 0:01:19
43 Floris De Tier (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:01:32
44 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:37
45 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:39
46 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha 0:01:47
47 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:01:54
48 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
49 Francis De Greef (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
50 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
51 Huub Duijn (Ned) Team Roompot
52 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:02:00
53 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:01
54 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:02:02
55 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement 0:02:05
56 Carlos Betancur (Col) AG2R La Mondiale
57 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
58 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
59 Larry Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling
60 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida
61 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
62 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge
63 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
64 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN – Qhubeka 0:02:12
65 Marc De Maar (Ned) Team Roompot
66 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:16
67 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
68 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
69 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka 0:02:19
70 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Team Roompot
71 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne-Séché Environnement 0:02:22
72 Stephen Cummings (GBr) MTN – Qhubeka 0:02:27
73 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
74 Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement
75 José Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:43
76 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
77 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Team Katusha
78 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:02:50
79 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:02:56
80 Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha 0:03:29
81 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:03:33
82 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
83 Yannick Eijssen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
84 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:03:45
85 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Team Roompot 0:03:58
86 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:04:03
87 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:04:46
88 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:04:49
89 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:44
90 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:05:47
91 Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida
92 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step
93 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
94 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge 0:05:50
95 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
96 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:05:53
97 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:06:24
98 Jose Rodolfo Serpa (Col) Lampre-Merida
99 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:11
100 Michal Golas (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step
101 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:07:19
102 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:07:59
103 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
104 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:08:03
105 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
106 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
107 Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement
108 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar
109 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
110 Youcef Reguigui (Alg) MTN – Qhubeka 0:08:08
111 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
112 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:08:17
113 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:08:22
114 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:08:46
115 Mike Terpstra (Ned) Team Roompot 0:09:10
116 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement 0:09:40
117 Brice Feillu (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement
118 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
119 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
120 Patrick Schelling (Swi) IAM Cycling
121 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:09:52
122 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:10:57
123 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:12:19
124 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar 0:13:18
125 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:13:20
126 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek Factory Racing
127 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Team Europcar 0:13:28
128 Songezo Jim (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka 0:13:42
129 Davide Frattini (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:13:51
130 Daniele Ratto (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:14:27
131 Frederico Zurlo (Ita) UnitedHealthcare
132 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:17:46
133 Reinier Honig (Ned) Team Roompot 0:18:02
DNF Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Matej Mohoric (Slo) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Benjamin King (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana Pro Team
DNF Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
DNF Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Dmitrii Kozonchuk (Rus) Team Katusha
DNF Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
DNF Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky
DNF Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
DNF Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
DNF Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
DNF Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ.fr
DNF Clement Chevrier (Fra) IAM Cycling
DNF Jonathan Fumeaux (Swi) IAM Cycling
DNF Pirmin Lang (Swi) IAM Cycling
DNF Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling
DNF Arthur Van Overberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Cheng Ji (Chn) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Clément Venturini (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Boris Dron (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN – Qhubeka
DNF Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka
DNF Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement
DNF Jesper Asselman (Ned) Team Roompot
DNF Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Lucas Euser (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Yohan Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Calvin Watson (Aus) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal
DNF Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Romain Guillemois (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Fredrik Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge