The Ardennes Classics campaign of the professional road cycling season continued with La Fleche Wallonne 2025. This year’s edition of the race would be contested on a 205.1-kilometer route from Ciney to Huy in Belgium and featured the renowned and feared Mur de Huy climb.

The start list for this year’s La Fleche Wallonne featured strong riders, including World Champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Olympic Champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), Mattias Skjelmose (Team Lidl-Trek), Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Magnus Sheffield (Ineos-Grenadiers), Enric Mas (Movistar Team), Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Enric Mas (Movistar Team), and Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility).

The race got off to a fast start and several breakaway attempts were launched from the main peloton in the starting kilometers of the race. A viable breakaway group featuring Simon Guglielmi (Arkea B & B Hotels), Robert Stannard (Bahrain Victorious), Ceriel Desal (Wagner Bazin WB), Siebe Deweirdt (Team Flanders-Baloise), Tom Paquot (Intermarche-Wanty), and Artem Shmidt and Tobias Foss of Team Ineos-Grenadiers.

The breakaway optimists fought their way to a time advantage of approximately 02:30 minutes, before riders from UAE Team Emirates moved to the front of the main peloton and increased the pace.

The advantage of the front group had been reduced to 01:20 minutes with 120 kilometers remaining of La Fleche Wallonne 2025 and the riders were wearing long-sleeved jerseys and rain jackets in the rainy and chilly racing conditions.

Uno-X Mobility riders Fredrik Dversnes and Andreas Leknessund launched a counterattack from the main peloton while on the Cote de Petite Sommes hill with 119.5-kilometers remaining. The duo was joined by Deweirdt, who had been dropped from the front breakaway group.

Riders from Lidl-Trek and Soudal-QuickStep joined the chase work at the head of the peloton.

The Dversnes-Leknessund duo bridged the gap to the first breakaway group with one hundred kilometers remaining of the race. It was still raining.

Seventy-five kilometers were yet to be contested before the finish line on the Mur de Huy would be reached. The eight-man front group had an advantage of 53 seconds at this point.

The riders were now climbing the Mur de Huy for the first time out of three. The fast pace caused riders to get dropped from both the front group and the main peloton.

Seven riders remained in the front group with sixty kilometers left. The riders were racing through the rain at high pace and had a lead of 01:11 minutes over the chasing main peloton, which was stretched out due to a combination of high speed and exhausted riders.

Riders in both the front group and the main peloton crashed on the wet tarmac of a roundabout with approximately forty kilometers left to race. The crashing riders included Mattias Skjelmose, Julien Bernard, and Patrick Konrad of Team Lidl-Trek.

The riders were now climbing the Mur de Huy for the second time. It appeared Skjelmose would not be able to regain contact with the other favorites. He was suffering and was bleeding from his right knee. Skejlmose later abandoned the race.

Tobias Foss, Andreas Leknessund, and Fredrik Dversnes left the other riders behind on the Mur de Huy and formed a new front trio. Foss was looking strong.

Riders from Soudal-QuickStep and UAE Team Emirates were continuing to set a fast pace at the front of the reduced main peloton group. The advantage of the front trio had been reduced to twenty seconds with 33 wet kilometers left of the race. 

The front trio was just ten seconds ahead of the main peloton twenty kilometers from the finish line. The favorites were preparing for the climax of the race and removing their long-sleeved jerseys, rain jackets, and reducing any excess wait. Tadej Pogacar was flying the rainbow colors as world champion.

Front riders Foss, Leknessund, and Dversnes were reeled in by the chasing main peloton seven kilometers from the race finish. 

The main contenders were now at the very forefront of the race. Jan Christen was leading the favorites group for his UAE Team Emirates captain Tadej Pogacar. Splits occurred in the peloton and multiple smaller groups were now climbing with five kilometers left.

Tadej Pogacar attacked on the descent and six riders followed immediately, with others chasing further back. The riders were approaching the Mur de Huy, where the race finale would be contested on the legendary hill climb.

The riders entered Mur de Huy at high pace and the favorites were now focusing on the race finale. Pogacar, Evenepoel, Ben Healy, Lenny Martinez, and other riders were all present.

Ben Healy attacked for EF Education-EasyPost and Pogacar countered. Pogacar fired on all engines on the Mur de Huy and continued up the climb like a cannonball. No other rider appeared able to follow the UAE Team Emirates rider.

Pogacar won La Fleche Wallonne in solo fashion for UAE Team Emirates. Kevin Vauquelin crossed the finish line ten seconds later in second place for Team Arkea B & B Hotels, while Great Britain’s Thomas Pidcock completed the race podium for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. Frenchman Lenny Martinez took fourth for Bahrain Victorious, while Ben Healy finished fifth for EF Education-EasyPost.

“It’s a really great feeling to win again here on the very beautiful Mur de Huy climb. It was a really tough race in these weather conditions and to win it means a lot to me,” Pogacar explained to Roadcycling.com shortly after the stage finish. 

“We raced really well together as a team today and we stuck to our plan. We have more or less the same team roster for Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2025 on Sunday, and I’m convinced we can do well,” Pogacar said.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 professional cycling season.