Tadej Pogačar powered to a second victory at La Flèche Wallonne after launching an unanswerable seated attack in the final few hundred metres of the Mur de Huy.
The Slovenian followed a move by Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) before disappearing up the climb after attacking over the top of the Irishman. Pogačar, his face and rainbow jersey smeared with dirt and grime, crossed the line with his arms aloft to make a huge statement of intent ahead of Liège–Bastogne–Liège on Sunday.
The reigning World Champion won by nine seconds ahead of Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) who took second and third respectively. It was the biggest winning margin in the men’s race since 2003, which stood at 16 seconds.
Speaking post-race, Pogačar said it was a relief to climb off the bike after much of the race played out in heavy rain. "It's a really great feeling to win again here on this tough final, beautiful climb," he said. "As a cyclist you don't like it much. Today the weather was also not the best, so it was a tough race, and to pull it off with a win means a lot."
He added: "We raced really well as a team today, we stuck to the plan. It was a hard race, and the guys had super good legs. We have the same team more or less for Sunday, and I think we can do a great race again."
Pogačar has become known for his trademark long range attacks in a one day setting. This time round, his victory came after a move with just a few hundred metres to spare. But even that was impossible to follow after a gruelling day in Belgium.
"Tadej went and I don't think anyone was anywhere close," explained Ben Healy afterwards. "That’s what he likes to do, he actually left it pretty late for Tadej."
How it happened
Similarly to last year’s edition, the rain fell for much of the day after the peloton left Ciney ahead of a 200 kilometre trek through the Ardennes hills in the south eastern corner of Belgium.
After a handful of earlier attacks, a six man move soon established itself as the race got underway. Two riders from Ineos Grenadiers were present, Tobias Foss and Artem Schmidt, along with Uno-X duo Andreas Leknessund and Fredrik Dversnes. Robert Stannard (Bahrain Victorious) and Ceriel Desal (Wagner Bazin WB) were also both in the breakaway.
With 80 kilometres to race, it was bad news for former champion Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) as he dropped out of the peloton on the Cote de Cherave. UAE Emirates and Soudal Quick-Step were both pacing hard at the front of the main field with the aim of reducing the gap to the leaders which stood at more than a minute.
At the 45 kilometre marker, the race was back onto the slopes of the Cote de Cherave and it soon began to cause damage. Both Schmidt and Stannard were dropped by the leaders and quickly swallowed up by the peloton.
The rain began to hammer down as the race finale drew closer. A big crash came out of nowhere in the peloton with Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) going down hard. The Danish rider appeared to be badly hurt, but he remounted his bike and was soon surrounded by teammates as they attempted to get him back into the race. The remnants of the breakaway, including Tobias Foss, began the penultimate ascent of the Mur de Huy with a gap of just 12 seconds over the main field.
Foss and his two Uno-X breakaway compatriots were caught by the UAE Emirates-XRG led peloton with seven kilometres to go. Tadej Pogačar’s teammates all looked to ensure that he was well positioned ahead of the final ascent of the Mur de Huy. Several riders were able to pull off their wet weather gear as the rain finally subsided. Jan Christen led the UAE train up the Cote de Cherave for the final time and his efforts soon strung out the peloton. The group split as Christen crested the Cherave and pushed on towards the Mur de Huy.
As the final climb kicked up, Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) tried to go from distance in order to prevent another Pogačar onslaught, but his move would prove to be too early. The Slovenian simply rode over to Healy before putting in a powerful seated attack which took him past the Irishman and into the distance. Pogačar took the win by nine seconds ahead of Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5).
Results
La Flèche Wallonne 2025 (205km)
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Emirates-XRG, in 4:50:15
2. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkéa–B&B Hotels, +10s
3. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +12s
4.Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +13s
5. Ben Healy (Ire) EF Education-EasyPost, at same time
6. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious, +16s
7. Romain Grégoire (Fra) Groupama-FDJ,
8. Thibau Nys (Bel) Lidl-Trek,
9. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, all at same time
10. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Jayco-AlUla, +19s
