Fleche Wallonne: Alejandro Valverde out-climbs rivals to win on Mur de Huy
Alejandro Valverde continued a scintillating start to the season with victory at Fleche Wallonne.
Last Updated: 23/04/14 3:20pm
The Spaniard (Movistar) timed his attack perfectly on the infamous Mur de Huy and went clear over the top to claim the middle race of the Ardennes Classics by three seconds.
Valverde had enough energy left to drive past Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) who finished strongly on the wall-like gradient of the final ascent. The Irishman held on for second place, with Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) third after taking it up early.
The 199-kilometre event was characterised by a rapid pace but always looked likely to be decided by the 1.3km climb to the finish.
Bauke Mollema (Belkin) led the contenders up the fan-lined rise but faded slightly as he and Dutch compatriot Tom-Jelte Slagter (Garmin-Sharp) completed the top five.
On the flat-out run for the finish contenders Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) were held up by a crash 3km out. 2013 winner Daniel Moreno (Katusha) had to settle for ninth place on the day while Amstel Gold victor Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) rounded out the top 10.
All eyes on the Mur
Despite a rapid start the first concerted breakaway effort stuck as Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp), Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) went away.
The trio saw their advantage touch nine minutes on the run north ahead of the day's 11 climbs and it wasn't long before defending champions Katusha arrived at the head of the peloton.
BMC Racing also gave their weight to the chase on behalf of a buoyant Gilbert but the peloton were still in excess of six minutes back heading up the first climb of the Mur.
The pace shot up the penultimate time over the Mur de Huy as a few short-lived attacks from the likes of Cyril Gautier (Europcar) and Jesus Herrada (Movistar) hinted at what was to come.
The pair of Navardauskas and Van Hecke were caught with 12km to go, while sandwiched between two ascents of the Mur, the Côte d'Ereffe proved to be unselective as a motivated peloton powered towards Huy.
Katusha and AG2R-La Mondiale drove the pace heading into the final climb, shutting down a lone attack from Jeremy Roy (FDJ) and setting up a grandstand finish.
