Stephen Williams (Irsal Premier Tech), 27, won this Wednesday at the end of a hyper-selective race. Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea) took a promising and frustrating 2nd place, while Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon-AG2R), cited among the favorites, finished 4th.
This 88th edition, contested over 199 km from Charleroi, offered for the first time four ascents of the Mur de Huy, instead of the usual three. The race marked the 40th anniversary of the first arrival at the summit of this super steep climb (1, 3 km at 9.6% average), one of the most legendary and picturesque places on the cycling calendar. Tadej Pogacar, outgoing winner, and Mathieu van der Poel, the emperor of Flandriennes, had remained warm in anticipation of the Liège- Bastogne-Liège, the oldest of the classics (259 km) on Sunday.