The Ardennes Classics continue on Wednesday with La Flèche Wallonne, which of course features the daunting Mur de Huy. This year the climb, 1.3km with an average gradient of 9.6%, will be tackled four times, including the final ascent to the line. 

Team Bahrain Victorious will start with very strong co-leaders backed by a powerful team. Roman Kreuziger, who rode ‘Flèche’ 13 times, will be in the race car, managing our strategy.

It’s a proper climbers’ classic. Some people say it’s a warm-up race for Liège, but I don’t agree; the two races are completely different. Liège is much longer, and Flèche is much more punchy. 

This year is a bit different from the last few years, because normally we approach the Mur de Huy only three times and there was the extra climb of the Côte de Cherave. This year there are roadworks there so we skip that one and do the Mur four times, so positioning might be more difficult. After the Côte d’Ereffe there is quite a distance before Huy which allows for more recovery than we are used to at Flèche. That means timing for positioning is going to be a bit harder.

Leading Bahrain on Wednesday will be Pello Bilbao, fresh from an impressive Amstel Gold on Sunday, and Santiago Buitrago who arrived in Belgium on Monday.

Also reaching Wallonie in time for the 88th edition of the race is 22 year old Italian Edoardo Zambanini, who makes his debut here. Kreuziger says the three of them are all in top condition,

“We have some fresh guys coming in for the last week of the Spring classics – Zamba has showed great shape recently, and Santi is really on top form this year. He’s recovered very well after his crashes at Paris-Nice last month and has made these two events a priority. His numbers are looking really good and we’re confident that he will do well.

Pello has shown great form since arriving here, but I guess on paper the finale suits Santi better. None of that matters though, if we don’t deliver him to the right place at 900m which is going to be a big challenge.”

There are nine categorised climbs over the 198.6km, starting with the Côte d’Yvoir, before the Ereffe and the Mur confront the peloton four times each. In the early part of the day, protecting our leaders will be the primary objective, and Bahrain’s line-up reflects how difficult that may be, as Kreuziger explains:

It’s good that we have a couple of big riders here too in Łukasz Wiśniowski and Fran Miholjević to protect our leaders from the weather – with the start in Charleroi there could be some wind in the first 85km or so. Those guys know exactly what to do: bring our climbers to the circuit at the foot of the first time up the Mur. Later on we’ll be covered with Edoardo, Nicolò & Yuki. Yuki is amazing – even at his age he is still competitive, and he is really good with Pello. He understands the desire, and knows what Pello needs, so they will make a great racing partnership.  I expect a lot from Nicolò after what he showed last week: not to be there at the end but to drop Santi, Pello & Edoardo for at the least the first couple of times up the Mur.

Every year the climax of La Flèche is leg-busting and enthralling, as the Mur de Huy has gradients of an astonishing 26%, and in 2024 it comes after 2,700 metres of elevation gained already. This is not a race for the faint-hearted, nor for those whose legs are anything other than incredibly strong on the day. But with last year’s winner – Tadej Pogačar – not on the start line, Kreuziger in very confident that Bahrain can be right there in the mix come that iconic conclusion to a legendary race.

I would like to see both our leaders in the top ten, with one on the podium, not just because I think that’s realistic, but also because it’s good to go that deep before ‘The Old Lady’ next Sunday.

La Flèche Wallonne starts at 11:15 CEST from Charleroi, and is scheduled to finish between 16:11 & 16:38