Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) won La Flèche Wallonne Femmes by leading on the Mur de Huy from the bottom to the top.
She had initiated a group of eleven on the Côte de Cherave with 7km to go, but things came together again on the descent to Huy.
From the bottom of the super-steep 1.2km final climb, Vollering took the front of the race and paced herself well, never relinquishing the lead.
Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) bridged to the Dutchwoman 250 metres from the line but could not follow Vollering's pace and finished runner-up.
Gaia Realini (Trek-Segafredo) sprinted past Mavi García (Liv Racing TeqFind) to take the last podium spot.
"It was really a team effort again. I did it myself on the climb, but in between they really helped me," Vollering said, paying tribute to her SD Worx team who have dominated the Spring.
Control of the race was in danger when Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team), Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick Step), and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) broke away on the penultimate ascent of the Mur de Huy with 37 km to go, but Vollering’s teammates rose to the task.
"It was really difficult to keep myself a bit easy there, but we have a really strong TT rider, Marlen [Reusser], she did an amazing job to keep the gap small, and then I attacked myself on a little climb," Vollering said, describing how she neutralised this move.
Amanda Spratt (Trek-Segafredo) was the next to attack and go solo, followed by three chasers, and again Team SD Worx managed to control the situation.
"Niamh [Fisher-Black] controlled it really well, and at one point, Mischa [Bredewold] and Marlen came back, and then I felt that we had the control again."
On the penultimate climb of the Côte de Cherave, Vollering even issued an acceleration that dragged an elite group clear ahead of the Mur de Huy. Some more riders came back but she then hit the front early on the final climb, gained a gap, held firm through the steep S-bend, and kicked again when Lippert joined her to sail to her fourth win of the season.
"The last time, I just thought I’d do my own pace. I could not believe that there was a gap," Vollering said. "I saw it very late, the gap was pretty big and I was really surprised. I’m really happy."
How it unfolded
An early break of Caroline Andersson (Liv Racing TeqFind) and Antri Christoforou (Human Powered Health) was joined by Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) and Ella Harris (Lifeplus Wahoo) on the first of three ascents of the Mur de Huy.
They were reeled in on the Côte de Cherave, 44 km from the finish, and the Movistar Team then kept the pace high into Huy where Van Vleuten made her move on the Mur, peeling away with Niewiadoma and Moolman-Pasio. Longo Borghini bridged to the trio at the top, and Reusser worked hard in the peloton to keep the deficit below 15 seconds, enabling Vollering to close it with a turn of speed.
Spratt immediately counterattacked and pulled out a gap of more than a minute on the group of favourites. Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick Step), Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM), and Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ) sat in between but were caught 12 km from the finish due to the work of Movistar Team and Team SD Worx.
Spratt’s advantage also dropped now, and she was caught when Vollering pushed hard on the Côte de Cherave, forcing a selection of eleven riders that also included Niewiadoma, Élise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM), García, Lippert, Longo Borghini, Moolman-Pasio, Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), Realini, Van Vleuten, and Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB).
Nobody in this group wanted to set a hard pace before the Mur de Huy, though, allowing dropped riders to return. Niewiadoma led the group into the climb until Vollering took over under the flamme rouge, pulling away with Niewiadoma on her wheel as none of the other favourites wanted to commit this early on the vicious climb.
Niewiadoma lost contact with Vollering, and eventually García and Lippert took up the chase, climbing side by side and passing Niewiadoma halfway up the climb. The German champion pushed on and got into Vollering’s wheel at the 300-metre mark, but Vollering continued undeterred and opened a gap again.
Looking behind for the first time 150 metres from the line, Vollering shook her head in disbelief and then rose out of the saddle with a smile to win. Lippert crossed the line in second place, and Realini passed García with 75 metres to go to take third.
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