Huy, Wednesday April 24th 2019 – 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 Pro Team), 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-San Remo and La Flèche Wallonne the same year after Eddy Merckx, Maurizio Fondriest and Laurent Jalabert.

1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:55:14
2 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
4 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:08
5 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
7 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
8 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
9 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:11
10 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Dimension Data
11 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
12 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
15 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
16 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), winner of La Flèche Wallonne: “Last year, it was my first big victory, ahead of a huge champion, it was a very special win that I’ll never forget. Now I’ve confirmed it’s one of the races that suit me the most. I felt strong expectations after my victory last year and with the fact that I’ve always been on the podium since the first time I came here. I tried to get away from the pressure after my good run early this season, to only focus on what I and the team had to do. It was harder than last year. It’s the kind of day that usually gets me very quickly pissed off, so I’m very happy. With the wind, it was very nervous from the start, it was mentally exhausting. On the final circuit, a rider in front of me did a bit of non-sense and he broke three wires on my wheel so I had to stop to change my bike and we were close to the finish… But we’ve done it all perfect with the team. I’m very happy.”

Huy, Wednesday April 24th 2019 – Like on the four previous editions, but this time with the World Champion’s jersey on her shoulders, Anna van der Breggen conquered the Flèche Wallonne Femmes for a fifth time. The Dutch rider waited for the final climb up the Mur de Huy to produce her effort, catching Newiadoma and eventually beating to line her compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton Scott) while her Boels-Dolmans team mate Annika Langvad had to settle for third spot.

1 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 3:17:04
2 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Mitchelton-Scott Women 0:00:01
3 Annika Langvad (Den) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 0:00:04
4 Marianne Vos (Ned) CCC-Liv 0:00:14
5 Demi Vollering (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:00:16
6 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM 0:00:17
7 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) CCC-Liv 0:00:20
8 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) Bigla Pro Cycling Team 0:00:23
9 Brodie Chapman (Aus) Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:00:26
10 Margarita Victo Garcia Cañellas (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:00:33
11 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Women 0:00:36

Text ASO
Fotos: Gerhard Plomitzer