History La Flèche Wallonne

the 2011 la flèche wallonne route

la flèche wallonne created boost sales of newspaper les sports during 1930s , first run in 1936. while perhaps not revered 1 of classic monuments , race regarded classic, , featured on uci road world cup , uci protour. became part of uci world ranking calendar in 2009.

like many cycle race events, course has altered considerably on years, both in route , length. event first run on roads tournai liège (growing 236 km 300 km — longest ever distance — in 1938), after mons became starting point. 1948, race started @ charleroi; 1960 event ran in opposite direction, starting @ liège , finishing @ charleroi (or, 1965, marcinelle). years have seen event start , finish in same place: verviers (1974–1978) or huy (1983–1985). 1986, race started in spa , finished in huy. since 1990, race distance has not exceeded 210 km.

today, 199.5 km event starts in charleroi , heads east huy, riders 3 laps of tough circuit including steep mur de huy (the wall of huy) climb, several sections steeper 15% , 26% on 1 section. finish @ top of mur after third ascent.

alejandro valverde has won race record 5 times. 4 riders have won race 3 times, 2 of them belgians, , 2 italians. indeed, belgian riders dominated years of event, winning first 11 editions of race, , less half of editions in total (38 victories , including 2011). italians have won event 18 times.