La Flèche Wallonne

La Flèche Wallonne is a Belgian one-day bike race held each April in Wallonia, part of the Ardennes Classics week. First run in 1936, it has finished atop the Mur de Huy since 1985, a 1.3-kilometer climb with gradients reaching 26 percent that defines the race's identity.

La Flèche Wallonne is the midweek Ardennes classic that finishes at the top of the Mur de Huy, a 1.3-kilometer climb above the Meuse that averages 9.6 percent. The race was first held in 1936 and has ended on the Mur since 1985. Alejandro Valverde’s five wins are the record.

How the Mur de Huy became the finish

The first Flèche Wallonne, in 1936, came through Huy and finished in Liège, where Philémon De Meersman won. Huy became the finish town in 1983, with the line beside the Meuse on the quai d’Arona, and Bernard Hinault won there. Two years later the finish moved up to the top of the Mur.

Claude Criquielion, a Walloon, won that first finish on the Mur in 1985 and won again in 1989. The women’s race has finished on the same climb since its first edition in 1998. The start has been far less fixed. From 2013 to 2026 every edition started in a different town, and Herstal in 2026 was the 18th start town in the race’s history.

Kint, Merckx and the winners before the Mur

Marcel Kint won three editions in a row, from 1943 to 1945. Eddy Merckx won in 1967, 1970 and 1972. The race they rode was much longer than it is now: the organizer’s list of winners gives 300 kilometers for 1938, and still 253 for Criquielion’s second win in 1989. From 1990 on, every edition in that list is between 193 and 208 kilometers.

Moreno Argentin won three of the first five of those shorter editions, in 1990, 1991 and 1994. Laurent Jalabert won in 1995 and 1997.

Astarloa and Osa: the 2003 breakaway that was never caught

In 2003 the favorites never reached the front. Fifteen riders went clear on the descent after the first climb of the Mur, 65 kilometers into the race, and led by three minutes with 85 kilometers left. The peloton came back to 1 minute 12 seconds with 30 kilometers to go and got no closer.

Igor Astarloa attacked on the Côte d’Ahin, 11 kilometers from the finish, and only Aitor Osa could go with him. The two Basques climbed the Mur side by side until Astarloa sprinted with 200 meters to go. He was the first Spanish winner of the race, and his Saeco teammate Alexandre Shefer led the next group in for third.

Philippe Gilbert wins on the Mur de Huy in 2011

Philippe Gilbert came to Huy in 2011 three days after winning the Amstel Gold Race. Christophe Le Mével accelerated with about 300 meters to go, and Gilbert countered and rode clear. Joaquim Rodríguez was second at three seconds, as he had been second to Gilbert at Amstel, and Samuel Sánchez was third. Gilbert was the first Belgian winner since Mario Aerts in 2002 and the first Walloon since Criquielion in 1989.

“I didn’t think I could win a race like this one today,” he said afterward. “It’s an extremely hard race that favours the climbers so to me it’s a surprise.”

Alejandro Valverde’s five wins and Alaphilippe’s three

Valverde first won in 2006. He then won every edition from 2014 to 2017, for a record fifth victory. In 2017, a week before his 37th birthday, he accelerated inside the last 200 meters and was sitting up to celebrate while Dan Martin and Dylan Teuns sprinted for second and third.

Julian Alaphilippe had finished second twice before he beat Valverde in 2018, with Jelle Vanendert third. He was the first French winner in 21 years, since Jalabert. Alaphilippe won again in 2019 and 2021. Teuns, third behind Valverde in 2017, beat him on the Mur in 2022.

Tadej Pogačar’s two wins in 2023 and 2025

Tadej Pogačar won in 2023, days after winning the Amstel Gold Race and less than three weeks after winning the Tour of Flanders. He waited until the S-bend was behind him, accelerated with 150 meters to go and finished ahead of Mattias Skjelmose and Mikel Landa.

His second win, in 2025, came in the rain and in the world champion’s jersey. He attacked on the steepest corner without getting out of the saddle, and nobody finished within 10 seconds of him. Kévin Vauquelin was second and Tom Pidcock third.

Stephen Williams and the snow of 2024

The edition between Pogačar’s two wins, in 2024, was run in heavy rain that turned to snow at times, and only 44 riders reached the end. Ineos Grenadiers, Intermarché-Wanty and UAE Team Emirates lost all seven of their riders, and Uno-X Mobility was the only team with more than four finishers.

Stephen Williams attacked just after the marker for the last 300 meters and held his gap to the line. Vauquelin finished a bike length behind him in second, and Maxim Van Gils was third.

Paul Seixas, the youngest winner of La Flèche Wallonne

Paul Seixas rode the race for the first time in 2026, in its 90th edition, and won it. He led the group from 800 meters out and accelerated with about 250 meters to go. Mauro Schmid finished second, three seconds behind, and Ben Tulett third.

At 19 years and 210 days Seixas became the youngest winner in the race’s history. The record had stood since the first edition, which De Meersman won at 21 years and 150 days.

This race distills a full day of Ardennes racing into a single decisive moment. The Mur de Huy is usually climbed three times, but only the final ascent matters, and by then the race becomes a test of who can time an acceleration on a gradient steep enough to crack anyone who goes too early or waits too long. It has produced a lineage of punchy climbers capable of surviving hard racing and still delivering a sustained effort on a wall that feels more vertical than rideable.