The mid-week Flèche Wallonne only became part of the UCI WorldTour in 2009 but has long held a prestigious place in the race calendar as part of the Ardennes Week of Classics. La Flèche Wallonne comes between the Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands and Liège - Bastogne - Liège which ends the Ardennes Week. The 2015 Flèche Wallonne, the 79th edition, will be held on Wednesday April 22.
It is not the hardest Classic in the UCI WorldTour but is one of the most thrilling because it ends on one of the steepest uphill finishes in the sport. The Mur de Huy is a relatively short, 1.3km, climb but it gets steeper and steeper before the finish on a plateau: several sections reach a gradient of more than 15% and one corner comes close to 25%. The Mur de Huy is also known as 'Le Chemin des Chapelles' - 'The Path of the Chapels' because of the seven chapels dotted along its roadside. It overlooks the Meuse River but riders have little time to enjoy the view and are more likely to be praying that they can make it to the finish after 200km of hard racing.
The winner is almost always the strongest climber who perfectly times his charge to the finish line. There is also a women's version of the race that is held on the same day and also finishes atop the Mur de Huy, forming part of the UCI Women Road World Cup series.
The current route of La Flèche Wallonne climbs the Mur de Huy three times. The first two ascents come after 113km and 175km. Like the other eight short climbs along the race route, they do little to split the peloton. However the fatigue is felt by the riders and only the team leaders and strongest are able to fight for position before the final assault of the Mur de Huy and the fight for victory.
Spain's Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won the 2014 edition of La Flèche Wallonne to take his second success in the race after 2006. He went on to finish second in Liège - Bastogne – Liège and also won the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian, was second in Il Lombardia and finished third in the Vuelta a España. His consistency earned him a total of 686 points in the individual rankings and so ensured he was the number one-ranked rider in the 2014 UCI WorldTour. He will be the rider to beat in 2015.