CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious head to the 90th edition of Fleche Wallonne elite men’s road race in Belgium today with Lenny Martinez targeting a podium result on the iconic Mur de Huy.
Martinez heads into the one-day Ardennes Classic looking to go one better than his fourth-place finish in last year’s edition, where he announced himself among the top contenders on one of cycling’s most explosive finales.
The young Frenchman comes into the Union Cycliste Internationale World Tour event in strong form, having recently delivered an outstanding performance at the Volta a Catalunya, where he secured second place overall and claimed the best young rider classification.
His punchiness on climbs makes this race perfectly suited to his characteristics.
He will be supported by a strong and experienced line-up featuring Matej Mohoric, Pello Bilbao, Vlad Van Mechelen, Fran Miholjevic, Edoardo Zambanini, and Pau Miquel.
The 200-kilometre race, featuring 2,974 metres of elevation gain, is the second of the hilly Ardennes Classics and will once again test the peloton on the climbs of the Walloon region.
Starting in Herstal, the race concludes atop the famous Mur de Huy, a short but punishing ascent of 1.4km with an average gradient of 9.1 per cent. The climb is tackled twice earlier in the race before the final ascent, where the outcome is traditionally decided in a punchy uphill sprint.
“Back at Fleche Wallonne, it’s a race where we have historically done quite well, winning with Dylan Teuns in 2022,” recalled Bahrain Victorious sports director Roman Kreuziger.
“Santiago Buitrago has also performed strongly here, and Lenny last year as well. With this team, we are well balanced and can have big ambitions.
“We have Lenny coming in feeling good, with strong support from Pello, who showed great shape at Amstel but had some bad luck and couldn’t get the result he deserved. He will be fully committed to the team.
“The rest of the riders all have clear roles, and with the majority having done this race before, we bring good experience into the race.
“It’s always very difficult to win Fleche Wallonne, but we will be fighting with Lenny and aiming for a place on the podium. It could be more open than last year’s edition with Tadej Pogacar, but we still expect it to come down to the final ascent of the Mur.”
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