Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) scored the biggest one-day win of his career, taking out La Flèche Wallonne ahead of five-time winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe).
“I always dream of a Classic victory and today it happened finally,” an elated Teuns said in the post-race flash interview. “I was never so strong in the Spring Classics like this year and I’m super happy with this victory.”
La Flèche Wallonne is almost always decided in the last 300 metres and the formula continued this year, with Movistar’s Enric Mas attempting to launch Valverde into the steepest section of the climb.
Vlasov tried to accelerate on the inside but found himself bogged down in his gears and Teuns came past to ramp up the pace, tracked closely by Valverde. The Spanish veteran gave one big push in an attempt to get in front of Teuns but had to concede to his younger rival in the final 50 metres, while the Bora-Hansgrohe rider suffered to the line for the final podium spot.