The second race of Ardennes week, La Fleche Wallonne is another prestigious, hilly and tough one-day classic. This 78th edition of the race is 199km long and features eleven short sharp climbs, with the final of those being the climb to the finish atop the Mur de Huy. Although it is shorter, and features less climbs than the Amstel Gld Race, those climbs are of a more difficult nature, sharing the longer and steeper characteristics of those that will be found in Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday.
They climb the Mur de Huy on three occassions, the first comes after 110km, the second after 174km, before the final decisive time. The race almost finishes with a sprint up the Mur between the most explosive climbers in the race; the inevitable breakaway group will have little chance of actually succeeding. The Mur itself is 1.3km long and averages 9.3%, there are sections of around 17-19% and the gradient touches 26% on one bend. It has proven difficult to attack at early on the climb and hold off chasers all the way to the top, Carlos Betancur (AG2R) failed with that move in 2013, and wiser heads tend to make their move closer to the top
Philippe Gilbert (BMC) won the Amstel Gold Race after his surging attack on toughest part of the Cauberg, where the gradient rose to a little over 10%. The extreme gradients on the Mur de Huy make it a much tougher proposition, and typically favour the explosive super climbers, such as last year's winner Daniel Moreno (Katusha), rather than a top uphill sprinter like Gilbert. However, with many of those explosive climbers absent or of questionable fitness, so the race is a little more open. Here are ten riders worth watching, for various reasons.
Philippe Gilbert - BMC: Gilbert seems to have timed his return to form perfectly, and comes into La Fleche Wallone on the back of a terrific win in the Amstel Gold Race. While the gradients on the Mur de Huy favour the slighter builds of the explosive climbers, Gilbert showed that he is climbing well by attacking on the steepest part of the Cauberg on Sunday. He has won this race once before, back in 2011 when he was simply untouchable on any kind of uphill sprint, and he has the experience to time his attack perfectly.
Daniel Moreno - Katusha: Moreno took his 2013 victory with aplomb; he didn't panic when Betancur opened a sizable gap on the lower slopes of the Mur de Huy, but remained towards the front of the pack. When Gilbert made his move Moreno followed then gave his own explosive kick to go clear of Gilbert and speed past Betancur. Both Moreno and his team leader, Joaquim Rodriguez who won in 2012, are the prototypical explosive climbers for this finish. However Purito Rodriguez crashed out o the Amstel Gold Race and is here to assist Moreno, as he told the Katusha Team website: "On the one hand I feel it as an obligation towards my teammate and last year’s winner Dani Moreno to support him. On the other hand I feel I need this race to be at top level in Liège on Sunday. My personal ambitions for the Flèche are a bit lowered now."
Alejandro Valverde - Movistar: Valverde will have been disappointed with his performance Amstel Gold Race, disappointed to finish off the podium in 4th place, and disappointed that he was unable to follow Gilbert's winning move. The 2006 winner knows the Mur de Huy well, his best chance will come if he is close to the leader when the gradient lessens towards the top, that's when Valverde's sprinting speed gives him an advantage, but he cannot afford to miss the move this time around.
Michal Kwiatkowski - Omega Pharma-Quick Step: Kwiatkowski came into the Ardennes with victory in mind, but his form in the Amstel Gold Races makes that look unlikely. Although he looked terrific when he attacked Peter Sagan on the steepest part of the finale in Strade Bianche, Kwiatkowski struggled to follow the moves on the Cauberg on Sunday. After Gilbert went clear Kwiatkowski was dropped by Simon Gerrans and Valverde as they gave chase, he rejoined them on the flatter run-in, but Kwiatkowski will need to have much better form to follow the moves on the steeper Mur de Huy.
Daniel Martin - Garmin-Sharp: An excellent climber with an impressive kick, Martin, victorious in Liège-Bastogne-Liège last year, loves this sort of finish. Martin left his attack too late last year and finished 4th, having finished 6th the year before, and that experience could prove crucial. However Martin withdrew early from the Amstel Gold Race citing a sore knee, and if he isn't at 100% the team could throw their support behind Tom-Jelte Slagter instead.
Carlos Betancur - AG2R La Mondiale: Betancur should have started this race as the outright favourite, but his preparation has been affected by illness and he hasn't demonstrated the form necessary to win here, or at least he hasn't demonstrated that form so far. Betancur finished 3rd last season after attacking too early on the Mur de Huy, mistimed attacks were a feature of Betancur's racing throughout 2013. However he seems to have learned from those experiences, timing his attacks perfectly in Paris-Nice to take two stage wins and the overall victory. If his form is better than it seems, Betancur could be very dangerous on the Mur de Huy.
Jelle Vanendert - Lotto Belisol: In 2012 Vanendert finished 2nd in the Amstel Gold Race and 4th in La Fleche Wallonne, however since then very little had went right for the Belgian puncheur, until last Sunday and another 2nd place finish in the Amstel Gold Race. It is terrific to see him back, 2013 had been an awful year as Vanendert struggled with a parasitic infection. At his best Vanendert excels a relatively short and steep climb such as the Mur de Huy, and while he likely still isn't at his very best, he is getting close and should be a factor on the Mur.
Diego Ulissi - Lampre-Merida: The Italian team have two strong options for this race, with Ulissi built for this sort of race and Damiano Cunego having shown terrific form recently. Ulissi has long been tipped as a future contender in the Ardennes, a gifted climber with a fast sprint and the nous to know when to make his move. While he remains an outsider for some of the longer classics, La Fleche Wallone is less than 200km and Ulissi has finished 13th (2013) and 9th (2012) in the most recent editions. Is this the year he can take a step forward and challenge for the podium?
Vincenzo Nibali - Astana: The Italian has largely focused his attention on Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the past, even managing to finish 2nd in 2012, yet he has always had the skill set to do well on a finish like the Mur de Huy. Nibali would normally reach his best on a longer climb, but he does have an explosive kick and showed that he is finding form with an attempt to attack the peloton on Sunday. I don't expect him to win on the Mur de Huy, but after his quiet start to the season, it will be good to see what kind of form Nibali is riding into ahead of the Tour de France.
Warren Barguil - Giant-Shimano: I'm not putting Barguil forward as a contending for this year's race, however the French climber is just the sort of aggressive rider who could excel here in the future. Although he is only in his second professional season, Barguil is precociously gifted enough to be competitive while learning and is being given a leadership role for this race. In a press release Directeur Sportif Christian Guiberteau said "We head to Flèche Wallonne with a view to getting Warren in as good a position as possible at the foot of the steep finishing climb of the Mur de Huy which suits his characteristics as a climber,"