2015 La Flèche Wallonne
The 2015 La Flèche Wallonne was the 79th edition of the La Flèche Wallonne one-day cycling classic; it took place on 22 April and was the twelfth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. La Flèche Wallonne was the second of the three Ardennes classics, coming three days after the Amstel Gold Race (won in 2015 by Michał Kwiatkowski) and four days before Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The defending champion in the race was Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team).
| 2015 UCI World Tour, race 12 of 28 | |||||||||||||
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Event poster | |||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||
| Dates | 22 April 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 205.5 km (127.7 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 5h 08' 22" | ||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
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The race took place on a 205.5-kilometre (127.7-mile) route that started in Waremme and ended in Huy. The key aspect of La Flèche Wallonne was the climb of the Mur de Huy, which was crossed three times during the race; the finishing line was at the top of the final climb of the Mur. The race suited both puncheurs and climbers, and had added importance in 2015 because the second stage of the Tour de France, to be held in July, also finished on the Mur, so several riders rode the race as preparation.
Despite the addition of an additional climb late in the race, a group formed at the base of the Mur. Valverde won his third victory on the climb, with Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx–Quick-Step) second and Michael Albasini (Orica–GreenEDGE) third; Valverde went on to win Liège–Bastogne–Liège as well. La Flèche Wallonne was affected by many crashes, which caused the withdrawal of several of the favourites for race victory, including Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team), Michael Morales (Cannondale–Garmin) and Chris Froome (Team Sky).