La Flèche Wallonne 2020 [FULL RACE]

September 30, 2020

La Flèche Wallonne 2020 – Herve – Mur de Huy : 202 km

The 2020 edition of La Flèche Wallonne, the 84th running of the race, will be held on Wednesday 22nd April, 2020. The Belgian race marks the mid-point of Ardennes week, coming smack-bang in between Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.La Flèche Wallonne is known for its Mur de Huy climb, a brutally steep hill which is tackled three times on the course, with the finish line coming atop the climb. The finish often leads to conservative racing beforehand, while puncheurs and climbers with a strong kick usually prevail on the double-digit gradients.

Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) continued his phenomenal season with victory in La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. The 22-year-old from Switzerland powered clear with around 50 meters to go on the Mur de Huy to beat Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) and Michael Woods (EF Pro Cycling) to take the biggest one-day win of his young career.

As expected the race came down to the final slopes of the Mur de Huy, despite an additional climb being added to the race, with Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo) the first potential winner to hit the front with around 1,000m to go.

The Tour de France podium finisher was able to string out the leading group before Woods pushed forward for what briefly looked like the winning move. But lurking on his wheel was Hirschi, who timed his acceleration perfectly to win the race with a healthy gap on those behind.

Woods’ move with 200m to go came just too soon, with Hirschi leaving it late and coming around the Canadian’s left-hand side. Cosnefroy came through the finishing pack to take a well-deserved second place ahead of Woods, while Warren Barguil (Team Arkea Samsic) and Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) rounded out the top five on the day.

For Hirschi, the successes keep coming. At his maiden Tour de France – his first three-week race of any note – he won a stage and walked away with the combatitivity prize. He followed that with third in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Imola, Italy.

“It went perfect for us with a small group of four guys and my team did a really good job, we put one of the guys to control the race,” Hirschi said. “In the final laps, it was so fast anyway, that the guys came back, and on the last climb I had the legs.

“It was so hard … It’s a steep but steady and you don’t have to go too early, but you are fully lactic acid, and it’s about what’s in the head, you have to be strong in the head to get through the pain.”

Earlier on there was heartbreak for 21-year-old Mauri Vansevenant (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who was part of the early break of the day. Making his WorldTour debut, the Belgian survived until just the final 4km before crashing on the run-in to the final climb. He was unlikely to have held on for victory but the fall cruelly cut short his race in dramatic fashion. He was caught by Rigoberto Urán (EF Pro Cycling), who had attacked on the penultimate climb, before the rampaging bunch swallowed up both riders with 2km remaining.

Deceuninck-QuickStep set the pace at the foot of the climb as teams looked to position their leaders, before Porte came from almost the back of the group to draw out the main contenders.

How it unfolded

Typically La Flèche Wallonne comes in the middle of the Ardennes but with the rescheduled season, and the recent news of Amstel Gold’s cancellation, teams and riders will take what they’re given when it comes to racing, and after Anna Van der Breggen stormed to the win in the women’s race earlier in the day, it was up to the men to follow.

Mauri Vansevenant (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Aaron Van Poucke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Mathijs Paaschens (Bingoal WB) and Marlon Gaillard (Total Direct Energie) broke away and formed the early move, with the foursome establishing a nine-minute lead over the peloton after 50km of racing.

The final 85km was be ridden on a 32km circuit that includes three climbs: the Côte d’Ereffe (final pass 19km from the finish), the Côte du Chemin des Gueuses (9.5km from the line) and, of course, the Mur de Huy, and saw Alessandro de Marchi (CCC Team) and Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe) clip off the front of the peloton.

On the second ascent of the Muy, the pace in the peloton lifted with de Marchi going clear of his Bora companion. However with 25km to go the Italian was caught, while on the Côte d’Ereffe the young Vansevenant pushed clear of his last breakaway companion. Rui Costa and Tim Wellens were both active at the front of the peloton, but with 14km to go Vansevenant still had a minute on those behind.

At the foot of the Côte du Chemin des Gueuses the Colombian rider Rigoberto Uran put in a huge effort to go clear and the EF Pro Cycling rider had 30 seconds as he crested the climb, but even when he caught Vansevenant before the climb the pair only had a marginal lead over the peloton.

Results :
1 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 4:49:17
2 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
3 Michael Woods (Can) EF Pro Cycling
4 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
5 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation
6 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
7 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:05
8 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
9 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
10 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team 0:00:10
11 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
12 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
13 Daniel Felipe Martinez Poveda (Col) EF Pro Cycling
14 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:00:15
16 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:18
17 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-Up Nation
18 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
20 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
21 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
22 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
23 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
24 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
25 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
26 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:28
27 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team
28 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:00:31
29 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:33
30 Enrico Gasparotto (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
31 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
32 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team 0:00:35
33 Laurens Huys (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:00:38
34 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:00:40
35 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
36 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:42
37 Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
38 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:00:46
39 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team
40 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:48
41 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
42 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
43 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain McLaren
44 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
45 Simone Petilli (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
46 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
47 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:56
48 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:00:59
49 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
50 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:01:01
51 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:01:03
52 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:08
53 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
54 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:12
55 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:17
56 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
57 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team 0:01:25
58 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:01:34
59 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
60 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
61 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:40
62 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:46
63 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:48
64 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
65 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:01:54
66 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Bingoal WB
67 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
68 Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal WB
69 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
70 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-Quickstep
71 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
72 Valentin Ferron (Fra) Total Direct Energie
73 William Barta (USA) CCC Team
74 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
75 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain McLaren
76 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) UAE Team Emirates
77 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
78 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:02:05
79 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
80 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling 0:02:11
81 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:02:38
82 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:46
83 Gino Mäder (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling 0:03:05
84 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
85 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:13
86 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:04:05
87 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:14
88 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
89 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Sunweb
90 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
91 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
92 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
93 Julian Mertens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
94 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Pro Cycling 0:05:11
95 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
96 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:05:16
97 Winner Andrew Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:05:22
98 Carlos Barbero (Spa) NTT Pro Cycling
99 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:05:27
100 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:05:45
101 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis
102 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
103 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:58
104 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:06:22
105 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team
106 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:25
107 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:06:30
108 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
109 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
110 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
111 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis
112 Thomas Degand (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
113 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:51
114 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
115 Mathijs Paasschens (Ned) Bingoal WB 0:06:57
116 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
117 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:10:14
118 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:19
119 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
120 Benjamin King (USA) NTT Pro Cycling 0:10:24
121 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
122 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
123 Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team
124 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
125 Alex Howes (USA) EF Pro Cycling
126 Juan Diego Alba Bolivar (Col) Movistar Team
127 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis
128 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
129 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:10:33
130 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
131 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:10:36
132 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal WB
133 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
134 Emiel Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:10:45
135 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
136 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:10:54
137 Marlon Gaillard (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:11:16
138 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:12:15
139 Rodrigo Contreras Pinzon (Col) Astana Pro Team
140 Lindsay De Vylder (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
141 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:12:31
142 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
143 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNS Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
DNS Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Circus-Wanty Gobert