In the absence of Mathieu van der Poel and the other big names in the peloton, the Flèche Wallonne looks more open than ever on Wednesday, with the added bonus of several French outsiders ready to do well.
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Appetite comes with eating. Three French people came close to victory on Sunday in the Amstel Gold Race (Paul Lapeira, Valentin Madouas, Quentin Pacher), finishing in the top 10 of the first Ardennes classic of the season. Enough to whet their appetite when tackling the Flèche Wallonne, Wednesday April 17, the finish of which will be judged for the 40th time at the top of the legendary Mur de Huy (1.3 km at 9.6% average slope) .
The absence of Mathieu van der Poel and outgoing winner Tadej Pogacar, who will start Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday, opens the door to outsiders: even if Tom Pidcock, winner of the Amstel Gold Race, Mattias Skjelmose and Dylan Everyone will be there, the Tricolores have a unique opportunity to seize.
Among them, the three fugitives from the Amstel Gold Race, but also Romain Grégoire, (winner of a stage of the Tour du Pays Basque), David Gaudu (winner of the Tour du Jura on Saturday), Benoît Cosnefroy (winner of the Brabant Flèche on April 10) or Axel Laurance (winner of a stage of the Tour of Catalonia).
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