On the 22nd of April the peloton tackles the second of the Ardennes classics: La Flèche Wallonne. The Belgian classic is marked by the multiple ascents of the famous Mur de Huy, the only one of the week’s tryptic that features a summit finish. We take a look at its profile.
The race was created in 1936 with Philémon De Meersman taking the first win; and Marcel Kint taking three triumphs consecutively less than 10 years before it was created. Rik van Steenbergen, Fausto Coppi, Raymond Poulidor, Eddy Merckx, Rik van Looy, Roger de Vlaeminck, Francesco Moser, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Laurence Armstrong and Laurent Jalabert are amongst the winners of this race.
There is a combination of classics specialists and climbers that have won this race including Davide Rebellin, Cadel Evans, Philippe Gilbert, Alejandro Valverde (four times from 2014 to 2017)… The most recent editions have been won by Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi, Dylan Teuns, Tadej Pogacar and Stephen Williams. In 2025 Pogacar took a comfortable win with a seated attack on the Mur de Huy.
Profile: Herstal – Mur de Huy
Herstal – Mur de Huy, 205.5 kilometers
205 kilometers and 3100 meters of climbing. That is the data you’ve got for this race, it is one that doesn’t feature any long ascent however it does feature a lot of rolling roads throughout the entire route. It’s a classic that suits the pure puncheurs and also some climbers, a race which is frequently quite controlled and sees a sprint finish up the very steep ramps of the final climb. The race starts in Chey, and has more climbing and distance than last year’s route due to the return of the Còte de Cherave.
This however has proven to be over the year a race which is only decided in the final climb, hence most favourites will just ride as conservatively as possibly until that point whilst their teams to the work to control the race. The race is decided on a circuit, of which there will be three laps of 37 kilometers in distance.
In each lap we’ve got the Côte d’Ereffe, summiting with 18.5 kilometers to go, having 2.2 kilometers at 5.4%. A small hilltop follows, but then the very fast and furious run-in to the Mur de Huy begins and that is where the race will be decided. Before getting there, there will be the Côte de Cherave which is 1.3 kilometers long at 7%, ending with 5.5 to go.
A grind, an ascent that gets steeper all the way up. It’s a pure anaerobic effort, and is ideal for the lightweight puncheurs and climbers. The ascent is 1.2 kilometers long at 10.3% and gets steeper and steeper towards the finish line. It’s an effort that is gradually upped all the way. The fight into the bottom of the climb is every year very intense, and once there it’s usually a lead up into the spring. The final 300 meters are very steep and so riders frequently try slightly earlier, but a long-range attack is unlikely to succeed.
List of winners Flèche WallonneYearCountryRiderTeam1936 BelgiumPhilemon De MeersmanLa Française1937 BelgiumAdolph BraeckeveldtHelyett1938 BelgiumÉmile Masson Jr.1939 BelgiumEdmond DelathouwerLeducq-Mercier1940No race1941 BelgiumSylvain Grysolle1942 BelgiumKarel Thijs1943 BelgiumMarcel Kint1944 BelgiumMarcel Kint1945 BelgiumMarcel Kint1946 BelgiumDésiré KeteleerGroene Leeuw1947 BelgiumErnest SterckxAlcyon–Dunlop1948 ItalyFermo CamelliniMétropole1949 BelgiumRik Van SteenbergenMercier–Hutchinson1950 ItalyFausto CoppiBianchi–Ursus1951 SwitzerlandFerdi KüblerTebag1952 SwitzerlandFerdi KüblerTebag1953 BelgiumStan OckersPeugeot–Dunlop1954 BelgiumGermain DeryckeAlcyon–Dunlop1955 BelgiumStan OckersElvé–Peugeot1956 BelgiumRichard Van GenechtenElvé–Peugeot1957 BelgiumRaymond ImpanisPeugeot-BP1958 BelgiumRik Van SteenbergenElvé–Peugeot–Marvan1959 BelgiumJos HoevenaersFaema1960 BelgiumPino CeramiPeugeot–BP–Dunlop1961 BelgiumWilly VannitsenGitane–Geminiani–Leroux–Dunlop1962 BelgiumHenri De WolfBaratti–Milano1963 FranceRaymond PoulidorMercier–BP–Hutchinson1964 BelgiumGilbert DesmetWiel’s–Groene Leeuw1965 ItalyRoberto PoggialiIgnis1966 ItalyMichele DancelliMolteni1967 BelgiumEddy MerckxPeugeot–BP–Michelin1968 BelgiumRik Van LooyWillem II–Gazelle1969 BelgiumJos HuysmansDr.Mann–Grundig1970 BelgiumEddy MerckxFaemino1971 BelgiumRoger De VlaeminckMars–Flandria1972 BelgiumEddy MerckxMolteni1973 BelgiumAndré DierickxFlandria–Shimano–Carpenter1974 BelgiumFrans VerbeeckWatney–Maes1975 BelgiumAndré DierickxRokado1976 NetherlandsJoop ZoetemelkGan–Mercier–Hutchinson1977 ItalyFrancesco MoserSanson1978 FranceMichel LaurentPeugeot–Esso–Michelin1979 FranceBernard HinaultRenault–Gitane–Campagnolo1980 ItalyGiuseppe SaronniGis Gelati–Colnago1981 BelgiumDaniel WillemsCapri Sonne–Koga Miyata1982 ItalyMario BecciaHoonved–Bottechia1983 FranceBernard HinaultRenault–Elf–Gitane1984 DenmarkKim AndersenCoop–Hoonved1985 BelgiumClaude CriquielionHitachi–Splendor–Sunair1986 FranceLaurent FignonSystème U1987 FranceJean-Claude LeclercqToshiba–Look1988 West GermanyRolf GölzSuperconfex–Yoko1989 BelgiumClaude CriquielionHitachi–Merckx–Mavic1990 ItalyMoreno ArgentinAriostea1991 ItalyMoreno ArgentinAriostea1992 ItalyGiorgio FurlanAriostea1993 ItalyMaurizio FondriestLampre1994 ItalyMoreno ArgentinGewiss–Ballan1995 FranceLaurent JalabertONCE1996 United StatesLance ArmstrongMotorola1997 FranceLaurent JalabertONCE1998 DenmarkBo HamburgerCasino–Ag2r1999 ItalyMichele BartoliMapei–Quick-Step2000 ItalyFrancesco CasagrandeVini Caldirola–Sidermec2001 BelgiumRik VerbruggheLotto–Adecco2002 BelgiumMario AertsLotto–Adecco2003 SpainIgor AstarloaSaeco2004 ItalyDavide RebellinGerolsteiner2005 ItalyDanilo Di LucaLiquigas–Bianchi2006 SpainAlejandro ValverdeCaisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears2007 ItalyDavide RebellinGerolsteiner2008 LuxembourgKim KirchenTeam High Road2009 ItalyDavide RebellinDiquigiovanni–Androni2010 AustraliaCadel EvansBMC Racing Team2011 BelgiumPhilippe GilbertOmega Pharma–Lotto2012 SpainJoaquim RodríguezTeam Katusha2013 SpainDaniel MorenoTeam Katusha2014 SpainAlejandro ValverdeMovistar Team2015 SpainAlejandro ValverdeMovistar Team2016 SpainAlejandro ValverdeMovistar Team2017 SpainAlejandro ValverdeMovistar Team2018 FranceJulian AlaphilippeQuick-Step Floors2019 FranceJulian AlaphilippeDeceuninck–Quick-Step2020 SwitzerlandMarc HirschiTeam Sunweb2021 FranceJulian AlaphilippeDeceuninck–Quick-Step2022 BelgiumDylan TeunsTeam Bahrain Victorious2023 SloveniaTadej PogačarUAE Team Emirates2024 Great BritainStephen WilliamsIsrael–Premier Tech2025 SloveniaTadej PogačarUAE Team Emirates XRG