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Stephen Williams timed his finish to perfection to become the first British winner of the men’s La Flèche Wallonne.
The Israel-Premier Tech rider endured brutal conditions over 198.6km in Belgium – including torrential rain and even snow – before powering up the Mur de Huy for a fourth time to cross the finish line narrowly ahead of Kévin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Dstny).
“I’m exhausted. I’m lost for words, quite emotional really,” said the Welshman. “It’s a really hard sport, so to win bike races is hard, especially here in these Classics. It’s wonderful.
“There was a bit of a block on the road, everyone was kind of waiting, I just saw the 300 and I thought if I can get a jump here and put five or 10 [seconds] on the group, you know, seeing the line in front of you, it would give me a good chance to hold on. I was looking around a bit because the legs were empty, they were coming close, so I’m really happy to hold on and win.”
Katarzyna Niewiadoma of the Canyon-Sram Racing Team won the women’s race.
More details to follow …
