Tadej Pogacar to continue his winning streak at Flèche Wallonne

Second chapter of the Ardennes trilogy with the Wall of Huy as judge and with the doubt of whether there will be anyone able to cope with the tyranny of an unstoppable Tadej Pogacar who, despite rumors that pointed to his non-participation, could not resist the temptation to score a triple.

All against Pogacar

While we await the mother of all battles that will take place next Sunday with the Liège-Bastogne-Liège and still assimilating the exhibition that Tadej Pogacar gave us a few days ago in the Amstel, the Walloon Arrow arrives to maintain the tension of the competition in a race that, despite its predictable outcome, continues to attract attention.

It will be inevitable not to remember one of the great dominators of the Wall of Huy, Alejando Valverde. In any case, a race that concentrates a truly luxury participation and that will try by all means to break a script that seems to be established. Will anyone be able to beat Pogacar?

Challengers to defeat the wall

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The characteristic finish of the Flèche Wallonne, marked by the tremendous hardness of the Wall of Huy, apart from sentencing the race to an outcome in the last kilometer, filters the list of contenders for victory to riders with a certain explosiveness who are able to maintain a maximum effort for just under 3 minutes.

Needless to say that the top favorite, by absolute acclamation, is none other than Tadej Pogacar who has already demonstrated his solvency in this type of final, without going any further on the slopes that culminated several of the stages of Vuelta a Andalucía, a couple of months ago, the same months that the Slovenian has been imposing his tyranny in every race he takes part in.

Flèche Wallonne is one of the classics that are still missing in Pogacar's list of victories, in which he has a 9th place as best classification. In fact, some rumors following statements by Joxean Fernández Matxin suggested that the UAE-Team Emirates rider would not take part in this edition either, in order to arrive fresher on Sunday in Liège. However, Pogacar has in his mind the goal of winning everywhere and adding one more classic to his collection is too much motivation to ignore.

New opportunity for Tom Pidcock, who despite his enormous quality is forced to fight against giants. If a few months ago, during the cyclo-cross season it was Van Aert and Van der Poel who frustrated his aspirations of victory time and time again, now he has found again a very hard obstacle in the legs of Pogacar. Even so, the British rider is not a man to shy away, as he proved on Sunday in Amstel, and he will certainly give his all to challenge for the win.

Enric Mas returns to competition, after a few days of rest after completing the Itzulia. The Mallorcan with a much more fighting mentality has grown this year and a few months ago in the uphill finishes of the Vuelta a Andalucía he was the only one who managed to disturb Pogacar. He has the legs to do very well in Huy and we will surely see him in the top places. Why not even dream of an outcome like the one he gave us at the end of last season when he managed to beat Tadej Pogacar in the Giro dell'Emilia, with the climb to San Luca, with similar characteristics to the Wall of Huy.

In any case, being such an explosive and fleeting finish where the initial placement or simply the possibility of suffering a mechanical problem can condition the outcome of the race, it is not ruled out the victory of a third. In this step we could mention men like Sergio Higuita, a small rider with a good impulse in the last meters or the revelation of these last races like the Irishman Ben Healy. Riders like David Gaudu or Jai Hindley could also be in contention for the victory.

Route

No changes in the route of a Flèche wallonne that despite the changes made a few years ago to include in the final part the Ereffe and Cherave climbs looking for a different outcome to the massive finish at the foot of the Wall of Huy, have not managed to produce a different outcome than usual for as long as we can remember.

However, these hills do introduce a touch of nervousness and the possibility of looking for a surprise for less favored riders, which, at least, make the race attractive for those who sit for hours in front of the television.

A route of 194 kilometers in which precisely the most remarkable thing is the final circuit with those three climbs linked in the last 100 kilometers, the first 90 being practically a pleasant ride through the Walloon region along the Meuse river. A route approach that may seem bland and yet it is one of the historical classics of this sport dating back to 1936 and in which the 5 victories of Alejandro Valverde, the cyclist who on more occasions has managed to raise his arms at the top of the Wall of Huy, shine with their own light.

How to watch the Flèche Wallonne 2023

The coincidence with the Tour of the Alps stage, which will also be held this week, and with the Snooker World Cup, complicates the scheduling of this Flèche Wallonne on Eurosport's programming grid. We will be able to follow the development of the race from 13:00 through its digital platform and GCN+, incorporating around 14:30, at the end of the Tour of the Alps stage, the retransmission through the Eurosport 2 channel.