2019 La Flèche Wallonne (World Tour), Belgium

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Ans - Mur de Huy, 195 km

Julian Alahilippe wins La Flèche Wallonne for the second year in a row. Photo: ASO/Gautier Demouveaux

Weather at the finish city of Huy at 3:20 PM, local time: 22C (72F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the south at 35 km/hr (22 mph).

The race: 175 riders started the race at 11:30.

Here's the organizer's race summary:

A year after overthrowing Alejandro Valverde from his throne, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) conquered the Mur de Huy again to take his second victory on La Flèche Wallonne. The race opened up much earlier than usual but the Frenchman was once again the strongest in the final climb to edge Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), one of his most intimate enemies. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) ahead of the youngsters Bjorg Lambrecht (Lotto Soudal) and Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe). Julian Alaphilippe is only the fourth rider to win Milan-Sanremo and La Flèche Wallonne the same year after Eddy Merckx, Maurizio Fondriest and Laurent Jalabert.

Oscar Rodriguez (Euskadi-Murias) quickly abandons due to illness and lets a nervous pack of 174 riders fight for the breakaway. Attacks fly and it takes 9 km for Joseph Rosskopf (CCC Team), Robin Carpenter (Rally UHC Cycling) and Kenneth Van Rooy (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) to get away from the pack. Tom Wirgten (Wallonie Bruxelles) and then Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) successively join them at the front.

The gap goes up to 5’45” before Julian Alahilippe’s Deceuninck-Quick Step start pulling the peloton 25 km into the race. Their acceleration on wind-exposed roads briefly splits the bunch until things get back to normal after 35 km. The attackers’ margin then stabilises between 4 and 5 minutes on the way to the first ascents of the day, the côte de Tancrémont (km 46) and the côte des Forges (km 57). Kenneth Van Rooy summits them first.

The situation heats up again with 95 km to go. Two successive crashes split the peloton and riders such as Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Enric Mas (Deceunicnk-Quick Step) participate setting a hard pace at the front. Things were back to normal when the race entered the final circuit, 118km away from the finish. The gap between the attackers and the peloton is down to 3’30”.

Van Rooy is dropped in the côte d’Ereffe. Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis) accelerate from the bunch and are joined by Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida) in the côte de Cherave while Van Rooy is dropped from the leading group. Things also get too hard for Tom Wirtgen in the first ascent of the Mur de Huy and three riders remain at the front with 58 km to go.

Tom Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) and Nathan Haas (Katusha Alpecin) join the chasing group in the valley, quickly followed by Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal) and Michael Gogl (Trek-Segafredo) while Julian Alaphilippe sustains a bike change. The second ascent of the côte de Cherave is too much for Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe). In the following downhill, Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Roman Kreuziger (Dimension Data) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) suffer a hard crash.

Joseph Rosskopf goes solo in the second ascent of the Mur de Huy, while all the chasers are caught by a peloton. Bjorg Lambrecht (Lotto Soudal) sets the pace in the climb and a split happens after the summit, with 20 riders joining Rosskopf. Julian Alaphilippe and Alejandro Valverde are absent from this move and their teammates bring them back to the leaders 23 km away from the finish.

Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal) attacks two kilometres later. He is joined by Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) with 9km to go. Deceuninck-Quick Step and Bora-Hansgrohe set the pace in the bunch, 15” behind them, and Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick Step) closes the gap in the final ascent of the côte de Cherave, with 6.5km to go.

Things finally come down to the final ascent of the Mur de Huy: 1.3km at 9.6%. Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) takes the front position with 600 metres to go. Then Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) attacks, only to see Julian Alaphilippe follow his move and edge him in the final 100 metres.

Complete Results:

195 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.630 km/hr

1	JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE	DECEUNINCK-QUICK-STEP	4hr 55min 14sec
2	JAKOB FUGLSANG	ASTANA	s.t.
3	DIEGO ULISSI	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	@ 6sec
4	BJORG LAMBRECHT	LOTTO SOUDAL	08''
5	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
6	BAUKE MOLLEMA	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
7	PATRICK KONRAD	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
8	MICHAEL MATTHEWS	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
9	JELLE VANENDERT	LOTTO SOUDAL	11''
10	ENRICO GASPAROTTO	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
11	ALEJANDRO VALVERDE	MOVISTAR	s.t.
12	BENOIT COSNEFROY	AG2R LA MONDIALE	s.t.
13	ROMAIN BARDET	AG2R LA MONDIALE	s.t.
14	DYLAN TEUNS	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	s.t.
15	LAURENS DE PLUS	JUMBO-VISMA	s.t.
16	MICHAL KWIATKOWSKI	TEAM SKY	s.t.
17	TIM WELLENS	LOTTO SOUDAL	15''
18	GUILLAUME MARTIN	WANTY-GOBERT	19''
19	RUDY MOLARD	GROUPAMA-FDJ	23''
20	SERGIO LUIS HENAO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	25''
21	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	CCC TEAM	s.t.
22	WOUT POELS	TEAM SKY	30''
23	SIMON CLARKE	EF EDUCATION FIRST	36''
24	JESUS HERRADA	COFIDIS	38''
25	GIULIO CICCONE	TREK-SEGAFREDO	42''
26	RUI COSTA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	45''
27	DAVIDE FORMOLO	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
28	DAMIEN HOWSON	MITCHELTON-SCOTT	56''
29	GORKA IZAGIRRE	ASTANA	1' 24''
30	ENRIC MAS NICOLAU	DECEUNINCK-QUICK-STEP	1' 45''
31	ALEXEY LUTSENKO	ASTANA	s.t.
32	THOMAS SPRENGERS	SPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE	1' 47''
33	CARLOS BETANCUR	MOVISTAR	s.t.
34	SERGE PAUWELS	CCC TEAM	s.t.
35	DIMITRI PEYSKENS	WALLONIE BRUXELLES	s.t.
36	SÉBASTIEN REICHENBACH	GROUPAMA-FDJ	1' 57''
37	MIKAEL CHEREL	AG2R LA MONDIALE	1' 59''
38	MATHIAS FRANK	AG2R LA MONDIALE	2' 01''
39	JAY MC CARTHY	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
40	VALENTIN MADOUAS	GROUPAMA-FDJ	2' 02''
41	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	CCC TEAM	2' 06''
42	NATHAN HAAS	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	2' 07''
43	CARLOS VERONA	MOVISTAR	2' 29''
44	LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ	ASTANA	s.t.
45	ELIOT LIETAER	WALLONIE BRUXELLES	s.t.
46	DAVID GAUDU	GROUPAMA-FDJ	2' 41''
47	TOMASZ MARCZYNSKI	LOTTO SOUDAL	3' 22''
48	TOM-JELTE SLAGTER	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
49	MATEJ MOHORIC	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	s.t.
50	DRIES DEVENYNS	DECEUNINCK-QUICK-STEP	4' 52''
51	LAWRENCE WARBASSE	AG2R LA MONDIALE	5' 36''
52	ROBERT GESINK	JUMBO-VISMA	5' 45''
53	TADEJ POGACAR	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	6' 01''
54	DAMIANO CARUSO	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	6' 19''
55	MICHAEL WOODS	EF EDUCATION FIRST	s.t.
56	WINNER ANDREW ANACONA	MOVISTAR	6' 24''
57	DAVIDE VILLELLA	ASTANA	s.t.
58	ANDREY AMADOR	MOVISTAR	s.t.
59	ANTHONY PEREZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
60	NICOLAS ROCHE	TEAM SUNWEB	6' 27''
61	MARIO GONZALEZ	EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY	6' 30''
62	TOMS SKUJINS	TREK-SEGAFREDO	6' 47''
63	AUGUST JENSEN	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	7' 26''
64	MAXIME MONFORT	LOTTO SOUDAL	7' 27''
65	LUIS ANGEL MATE	COFIDIS	s.t.
66	ODD CHRISTIAN EIKING	WANTY-GOBERT	s.t.
67	KEVIN DELTOMBE	SPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE	s.t.
68	FABIEN DOUBEY	WANTY-GOBERT	7' 33''
69	MICHAEL GOGL	TREK-SEGAFREDO	7' 34''
70	JAN BAKELANTS	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
71	SANDER ARMEE	LOTTO SOUDAL	s.t.
72	JULIEN SIMON	COFIDIS	7' 37''
73	JOSÉ GONÇALVES	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	7' 40''
74	ROMAIN SEIGLE	GROUPAMA-FDJ	7' 47''
75	NATHAN BROWN	EF EDUCATION FIRST	7' 48''
76	THOMAS DEGAND	WANTY-GOBERT	s.t.
77	TOSH VAN DER SANDE	LOTTO SOUDAL	7' 57''
78	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA-HANSGROHE	8' 00''
79	JULIEN BERNARD	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
80	PAUL MARTENS	JUMBO-VISMA	s.t.
81	DYLAN VAN BAARLE	TEAM SKY	s.t.
82	LOUIS VERVAEKE	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
83	GREGOR MÜHLBERGER	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
84	ENRICO BATTAGLIN	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	8' 22''
85	KOEN BOUWMAN	JUMBO-VISMA	8' 50''
86	JONAS KOCH	CCC TEAM	8' 54''
87	PETR VAKOC	DECEUNINCK-QUICK-STEP	9' 15''
88	PIERRE LUC PERICHON	COFIDIS	9' 49''
89	ROBIN CARPENTER	RALLY UHC CYCLING	s.t.
90	RUBEN GUERREIRO	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	10' 29''
91	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	GROUPAMA-FDJ	10' 53''
92	MARCO MINNAARD	WANTY-GOBERT	s.t.
93	COLIN JOYCE	RALLY UHC CYCLING	10' 58''
94	OMAR FRAILE	ASTANA	s.t.
95	RYAN ANDERSON	RALLY UHC CYCLING	s.t.
96	DANIEL TUREK	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	s.t.
97	AARON VERWILST	SPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE	11' 10''
98	MATHIJS PAASSCHENS	WALLONIE BRUXELLES	11' 18''
99	AURÉLIEN PARET	AG2R LA MONDIALE	11' 37''
100	MICHAEL VALGREN	DIMENSION DATA	11' 38''
101	SEAN BENNETT	EF EDUCATION FIRST	11' 55''
102	TOM WIRTGEN	WALLONIE BRUXELLES	16' 45''

Course map and profile:

2019 Flèche Wallonne map

2019 Flèche Wallonne profile

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2019 Flèche Wallonne photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

World road champion Alejandro Valverde waves to the crowd during the opening presentation ceremonies.

Tim Wellens

Dan Martin heads to the start

2018 winner Julian Alaphilippe waits for the start.

Looks like it's about time to race

The peloton races across Wallonia.

And it was a nice day for a bicycle race.

Peter Sagan

Petr Vakoc ascends the Mur de Huy

Jay McCarthy enjoys the climb.

Gavin Mannion

Sean Bennett

A few meters from the line it's down to Jakob Fuglsang (left) and Julian Alaphilippe

Julian Alaphilippe leads Jakob Fuglsang.

The race is Alaphilippe's

Winner Julian Alaphilippe

The podium, from left: Jakob Fuglsang (2nd), Julian Alaphilippe & Diego Ulissi (3rd)

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Start list with backnumbers, April 23, 2019:

DECEUNINCK - QUICK STEP
1	JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE
2	RÉMI CAVAGNA
3	DRIES DEVENYNS
4	MIKKEL FRØLICH HONORÉ
5	ENRIC MAS NICOLAU
6	PIETER SERRY
7	PETR VAKOC
MOVISTAR TEAM
11	ALEJANDRO VALVERDE
12	ANDREY AMADOR
14	CARLOS BETANCUR
15	JAIME CASTRILLO ZAPATER
16	IMANOL ERVITI
17	CARLOS VERONA QUINTANILLA
18	WINNER ANDREW ANACONA
LOTTO SOUDAL
21	JELLE VANENDERT
22	SANDER ARMEE
23	BJORG LAMBRECHT
24	TOMASZ MARCZYNSKI
25	MAXIME MONFORT
26	TOSH VAN DER SANDE
27	TIM WELLENS
MITCHELTON - SCOTT
31	ADAM YATES
32	MICHAEL ALBASINI
33	TSGABU GEBREMARYAM GRMAY
34	DAMIEN HOWSON
35	DARYL IMPEY
36	NICHOLAS SCHULTZ
37	DION SMITH
TEAM SUNWEB
41	MICHAEL MATTHEWS
42	JAN BAKELANTS
43	JOHANNES FRÖHLINGER
44	LENNARD KÄMNA
45	NICOLAS ROCHE
46	FLORIAN STORK
47	LOUIS VERVAEKE
TREK - SEGAFREDO
51	BAUKE MOLLEMA
52	JULIEN BERNARD
53	GIULIO CICCONE
54	NICOLA CONCI
55	FABIO FELLINE
56	MICHAEL GOGL
57	TOMS SKUJINS
AG2R LA MONDIALE
61	ROMAIN BARDET
62	MIKAEL CHEREL
63	CLÉMENT CHEVRIER
64	BENOIT COSNEFROY
65	MATHIAS FRANK
66	AURÉLIEN PARET PEINTRE
67	LAWRENCE WARBASSE
BORA - HANSGROHE
71	PETER SAGAN
72	CESARE BENEDETTI
73	DAVIDE FORMOLO
74	PATRICK KONRAD
75	JAY MC CARTHY
76	GREGOR MÜHLBERGER
77	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN
TEAM SKY
81	MICHAL KWIATKOWSKI
82	DAVID DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO
83	EDWARD DUNBAR
84	MICHAL GOLAS
85	WOUT POELS
86	DIEGO ROSA
87	DYLAN VAN BAARLE
TEAM DIMENSION DATA
91	ROMAN KREUZIGER
92	ENRICO GASPAROTTO
93	JACQUES WILLEM JANSE VAN RENSBURG
94	BENJAMIN KING
95	TOM-JELTE SLAGTER
96	JAY ROBERT THOMSON
97	MICHAEL VALGREN
GROUPAMA - FDJ
101	DAVID GAUDU
102	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON
103	VALENTIN MADOUAS
104	RUDY MOLARD
105	SÉBASTIEN REICHENBACH
106	ROMAIN SEIGLE
107	LÉO VINCENT
UAE TEAM EMIRATES
111	DANIEL MARTIN
112	RUI COSTA
113	SERGIO LUIS HENAO MONTOYA
114	MANUELE MORI
115	TADEJ POGACAR
116	RORY SUTHERLAND
117	DIEGO ULISSI
ASTANA PRO TEAM
121	JAKOB FUGLSANG
123	OMAR FRAILE MATARRANZ
124	GORKA IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI
125	ALEXEY LUTSENKO
126	LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ
127	DAVIDE VILLELLA
128	ION IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI
TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN
131	ENRICO BATTAGLIN
132	STEFF CRAS
133	JOSÉ GONÇALVES
134	RUBEN GUERREIRO
135	NATHAN HAAS
136	WILLEM JAKOBUS SMIT
137	DMITRII STRAKHOV
TEAM JUMBO - VISMA
141	ROBERT GESINK
142	KOEN BOUWMAN
143	LAURENS DE PLUS
145	LENNARD HOFSTEDE
146	BERT-JAN LINDEMAN
147	PAUL MARTENS
149	TIMO ROOSEN
COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
151	JESUS HERRADA
153	MATHIAS LE TURNIER
154	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES
155	ANTHONY PEREZ
156	PIERRE LUC PERICHON
157	JULIEN SIMON
158	DIMITRI CLAEYS
BAHRAIN - MERIDA
161	DYLAN TEUNS
162	GREGA BOLE
165	LUKA PIBERNIK
166	DOMENICO POZZOVIVO
167	MATEJ MOHORIC
168	DAMIANO CARUSO
169	HEINRICH HAUSSLER
EF EDUCATION FIRST
171	MICHAEL WOODS
172	SEAN BENNETT
173	NATHAN BROWN
174	SIMON CLARKE
175	G LAWSON CRADDOCK
176	ALEX HOWES
179	JAMES WHELAN
CCC TEAM
181	SERGE PAUWELS
182	WILLIAM BARTA
183	JOSEF CERNÝ
184	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI
185	JONAS KOCH
186	LUKASZ OWSIAN
187	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF
RALLY UHC CYCLING
191	BRANDON MCNULTY
192	RYAN ANDERSON
193	ROBIN CARPENTER
194	ADAM DE VOS
195	COLIN JOYCE
196	GAVIN MANNION
197	SVEIN TUFT
SPORT VLAANDEREN - BALOISE
201	DRIES VAN GESTEL
202	KEVIN DELTOMBE
203	EMIEL PLANCKAERT
204	THOMAS SPRENGERS
205	MATHIAS VAN GOMPEL
206	KENNETH VAN ROOY
207	AARON VERWILST
WANTY - GOBERT CYCLING TEAM
211	GUILLAUME MARTIN
212	BART DE CLERCQ
213	THOMAS DEGAND
214	FABIEN DOUBEY
215	ODD CHRISTIAN EIKING
216	WESLEY KREDER
217	MARCO MINNAARD
ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY
221	BEN HERMANS
222	AWET ANDEMESKEL
223	EDWIN ALCIBIADES AVILA VANEGAS
226	AUGUST JENSEN
227	DANIEL TUREK
228	CLÉMENT CARISEY
229	GUY SAGIV
WALLONIE BRUXELLES
231	ELIOT LIETAER
232	KEVYN ISTA
233	KENNY MOLLY
234	JULIEN MORTIER
235	MATHIJS PAASSCHENS
236	DIMITRI PEYSKENS
237	TOM WIRTGEN
EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY - MURIAS
241	OSCAR RODRIGUEZ GARAICOECHEA
242	ANDER BARRENETXEA URIARTE
243	CYRIL BARTHE
245	MARIO GONZALEZ SALAS
246	JULEN IRIZAR LASKURAIN
247	HECTOR SAEZ BENITO
249	SERGIO RODRIGUEZ RECHE