The riders clip into their pedals in Charleroi and tackle only one climb, the Côte d’Yvoir, in the run-up to the circuit around Huy. The local lap is 31.6 kilometres long and features two climbs, the Côte d’Ereffe and the Wall of Huy. Both are served four times.
So, the Côte de Cherave has been taken out of the finishing circuit. This way the distance between the Côte d’Ereffe and the Wall of Huy is shortened from 18.5 kilometres to 11.5 kilometres. Fat chance it will affect the outcome of the race. Even Tadej Pogacar didn’t try to change the dynamics of La Flèche Wallonne last year. He simply waited until the steepest part of the finish climb to make a decisive move.
The Côte d’Ereffe is a 2.1 kilometres climb at 5%. The riders then descend into the valley of the Hoyoux and follow the river downsteam, all the way to Huy. Shortly, the 1.3 kilometers long local Wall appears. The 1.3 kilometres climb at 9.6% opens relatively easy before it kicks in hard after 400 metres. The gradient never drops below 10% for 800 metres and then it levels out to 6% on the home straight.
Alejandro Valverde is record holder with five victories. The recently retired Spaniard won La Flèche Wallonne in 2006 and in the period 2014-2017 before Julian Alaphilippe took over the baton in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Other recent winners are Marc Hirschi (2020), Dylan Teuns (2022) and Tadej Pogacar (2023).
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX Flèche Wallonne 2023.
Other interesting reads: results and start list 2024 Flèche Wallonne.
La Flèche Wallonne 2024: route, profiles, more
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