Van der Breggen's Fleche Wallonne crown vacant as Alaphilippe looks for four

The Fleche Wallonne has seen a number of long-term winners atop the infamous Mur de Huy, but with Anna van der Breggen's retirement, the longest tenured victor in the race's history has left a void in her wake.

(L to R) Annemiek van Vleuten of Movistar, Julian Alahilippe of QuickStep Alpha Vinyl Source: Getty Images

Watch all the action from the women's Fleche Wallonne from the viewer-friendly start of 1910 AEST on SBS On Demand and SBS VICELAND. The men's Fleche Wallonne starts from 2100 AEST on SBS On Demand, with the SBS VICELAND broadcast starting at 2200 AEST.

Seven-time winner van der Breggen, all of those consecutive, has abdicated her title as the Queen of the Mur de Huy with her retirement last year. 

Dominance atop the steep slopes of the finishing climb which is almost always the decisive point of the race is not uncommon, many riders have long winning streaks at Fleche Wallonne, but van der Breggen's was unparalleled. Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) has five wins, but won't be adding to that this year due to a COVID diagnosis on the eve of Paris-Roubaix, while Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) similarly has five wins to his name, though he won't be favoured to add to his tally.

The reigning champion in the men's Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl), who has won in all three of the last editions of the race he has contested, missing out on participating in 2020. In 2015 and 2016 he was second, so it's clear to see that the race is perfectly tailored for his punchy climbing abilities.

The reason the race often sees the same winner is the relatively predictable manner in which it is raced, with the spectacular and imposing final climb of the Mur de Huy (1.3km at 9.6%) the set-piece that the stage for every edition of the race, bar a few aberrations in recent years.

The action boils down to a 31.1 kilometres circuit, which saw some shake-up a few years ago, but now has settled in as familiar. Just like in 2019, the riders tackle the Côte de Tancrémont and Côte des Forges in the run-up to the circuit, which they enter after approximately 120 kilometres.

The lap around Huy features three climbs, Côte d’Ereffe, Côte de Cherave and the Mur de Huy (literally the 'Wall of Huy'). These come in the last two thirds of the lap, concentrating the climbing towards the back end.

Fleche Wallonne 2022 men's race route Source: ASO

The Côte d’Ereffe comes first, a 2.1 kilometres climb at five per cent, with the 1.3 kilometres long Côte de Cherave next up at an average of 8 and a half per cent, topping out with a false flat section that can also see attacks go, if the climb hasn't yet forced a break. 

A flowing downhill ride is interrupted by a few kilometres of flat before the main challenge of the 'wall' kicks in. The 1.3 kilometres climb begins relatively easy, but that belies the pain to come, with the gradient staying above 10 per cent for the 800 metre main section of the climb. The home straight levels out to six percent and it's in the last steep gradients and the transition into the slightly shallower pitches that the final acceleration is often made.

Postioning is all important leading into the base of the climb, as using up any more energy on the final ascent than necessary is a recipe for defeat.

Fleche Wallonne Women's Contenders

There's only been one winner in recent years, and there are no riders on the startline that have tasted success atop the Mur de Huy. The highest credentialled rider is Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) with two second places behind her Dutch counterpart. 

The women's peloton has adopted a policy of racing to negate the influence of van Vleuten, with success in 2022. The only classic she has won so far has been Omloop het Nieuwsblad, while the teamwork of SD-Worx and the strength of Lotte Kopecky has seen her consigned to second at the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche. She showed her strength again at Amstel Gold Race with a number of early breaks before setting a vicious tempo up the final ascent of the Cauberg. 

The relatively shallow gradient of that climb tends a bit more towards absolute power than power to weight ratio, and van Vleuten will be more suited on the Mur de Huy, where it will be tough for any to hold her wheel.

SD-Worx have been dominant in recent weeks and will no doubt have a plan to disupt an armchair ride for van Vleuten to the Mur de Huy. They have riders in Ashleigh Moolman and Demi Vollering who could potentially go toe-to-toe with the Dutch star, but their strategy has so far been to race aggressively and try to establish numbers in elite groups off the front of the race. They've got Anna van der Breggen in the team car, you couldn't ask for better in directing the race tactics.

There are plenty of other teams who will look to attack from afar, FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope and Trek-Segafredo have been successful in recent races off an attacking style, and I would expect them to continue that here. 

The one team that might be an ally of Movistar in this race is Canyon-SRAM, with Kasia Niewiadoma an exponent of these punchy climbs, notably finishing second last year.

Watch all the action from the women's Fleche Wallonne from the viewer-friendly start of 1910 AEST on SBS On Demand and SBS VICELAND.

Fleche Wallonne Men's Contenders

Julian Alaphilippe's name obviously belongs atop any list of favourites for this race. He has won three times here and brings a very strong team to the race in support with Remco Evenepoel and Mauri Vansevenant riders who would be contenders in most other teams.

Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroen) was second in 2020, and he's been in even better form this year heading in. He looked the strongest at Amstel Gold Race, a bike throw and some smart Kwiatkowski riding away from victory.  The way he shot across to Kwiatkowski's move left some very good bike riders with no chance of following and if he can produce a similar ride here, there's no reason he can't upgrade from second to first.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has been very impressive in every race start this season, even in races that wouldn't seem to suit a Grand Tour winner. The Mur de Huy should be more to his liking than Milan San Remo, or the cobbles of Flanders, and he certainly fits the bill as a prodigious climber with a punchy sprint. 

He also has a very strong team in support with 2020 Fleche Wallonne winner Marc Hirschi, four-time top-10 finisher Diego Ulissi and the young climbing phenom Juan Ayuso on his squad. It would seem a bit of a waste for all four to line up for the final ascent of the Mur de Huy, and I'd expect some attacking moves from Hirschi or Ayuso to try and make use of their numbers.

Out of the others, Alejandro Valverde's name stands out as a five-time winner. He was third last year, and was an impressive second behind a rampant Pogačar at Strade Bianche. He didn't back up that form at Volta a Catalunya, but there are none better than setting themselves for an Ardennes classics race than the veteran Spaniard.

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) and Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies) will be names from other teams to follow, while Australian supporters will be hoping that a good form spring from Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) can continue here. 

Matthews has placed fifth here in the past, and there are also Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) and Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe) who prefer the longer climbs, but still won't be out of place in the top 10 here.

Watch all the action from the men's Fleche Wallonne from 2100 AEST on SBS On Demand, with the SBS VICELAND broadcast starting at 2200 AEST.