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14-471: The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics , La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week between the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège . At one time, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège were run on successive days as "Le Weekend Ardennais" (both races are organised by Amaury Sport Organisation ). Only seven riders have achieved the "Ardennes double" by winning both races in

28-457: A revival of the Women's Amstel Gold Race , which had previously been held from 2001 to 2003, and La Flèche Wallonne Féminine , which has been held since 1998. Anna van der Breggen immediately clinched the triple by winning all three races, being followed by team-mate Lizzie Deignan in second and Katarzyna Niewiadoma in third in all three events. There is no official competition connecting

42-537: The Brabantse Pijl , another important hill classic in mid-April, winning the "quadruple" that year. Other riders to win all three races, though not in a single year, are Danilo Di Luca , Michele Bartoli , Eddy Merckx , Bernard Hinault and Tadej Pogačar . In 2017, women's races for all three of the Ardennes classics were held for the first time, with Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes making its debut alongside

56-655: The Trittico di Autunno (Autumn Triptych) with Milano–Torino , Giro del Piemonte and Giro di Lombardia . La Fl%C3%A8che Wallonne F%C3%A9minine La Flèche Wallonne Féminine is a professional women's bicycle road race held each year in Wallonia , Belgium, in April. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour , cycling's season-long competition of top-tier races, in which it is the second-oldest single-day event after

70-536: The Trofeo Alfredo Binda in Italy. The event is raced on the same day as La Flèche Wallonne for men . The race was inaugurated by Tour de France organizers ASO in 1998 and quickly became a road race classic. From 1999 onwards, the women's Flèche Wallonne was a UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup event. In 2016, the race became part of the new UCI Women's World Tour . The Flèche Wallonne Féminine

84-584: The event 18 times. Riders in italics are still active Ardennes classics The Ardennes classics are three cycling classics held in mid-April in the Belgian Ardennes and southern Limburg in the Netherlands: Liège–Bastogne–Liège , La Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race . First held in 1892, 1936 and 1966 respectively, the races are notable for their hilly courses, and often have similar riders competing for

98-755: The five Classic ' Monuments ', the race is widely regarded as among the most significant spring Classics, alongside the Amstel Gold and Strade Bianche , and featured on the UCI Road World Cup and UCI ProTour . It became part of the UCI World Ranking calendar in 2009. Like many cycle race events, the course has altered considerably over the years, both in route and length. The event was first run on roads from Tournai to Liège (growing from 236 km to 300 km — its longest ever distance — in 1938), after which Mons became

112-439: The race. Alejandro Valverde has won the race a record five times. Five riders have won the race three times, two of them Belgians , two Italians, and one Frenchman. Five riders have won the race in back to back years. Indeed, Belgian riders dominated the early years of the event, winning the first 11 editions of the race, and slightly less than half of the editions in total (38 victories up to and including 2011). Italians have won

126-402: The same year: Alejandro Valverde three times (in 2006, 2015 and 2017), Ferdi Kübler twice (in 1951 and 1952), Stan Ockers (1955), Eddy Merckx (1972), Moreno Argentin (1991) Davide Rebellin (2004) and Philippe Gilbert (2011). La Flèche Wallonne was created to boost the sales of a newspaper Les Sports during the 1930s and was first run in 1936. While perhaps not as revered as one of

140-614: The starting point. From 1948, the race started at Charleroi ; from 1960 the event ran in the opposite direction, starting at Liège and finishing at Charleroi (or, from 1965, Marcinelle ). Some years have seen the event start and finish in the same place: Verviers (1974–1978) or Huy (1983–1985). From 1986, the race started in Spa and finished in Huy. Since 1990, the race distance has not exceeded 210 km. Since its inception, it has been held every year except 1940, due to World War II. In 2020, it

154-726: The three races, although there have been classifications in the past for the two Walloon races. In recent years, these three hill classics are held in the second half of April, following a similar set of the Cobbled classics . Later in the year, there are two similar 'trebles' in Italy: the Trittico Lombardo with the Tre Valli Varesine , Coppa Ugo Agostoni and Coppa Bernocchi in the Lombardy Region, and

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168-450: The top positions as the races are held closely following each other. Cyclists that are specialized in these hilly courses are known as puncheurs . In recent years, the three classics have been held within an 8-day timeframe. Since the late 2010s, all three of the men's races have been joined by equivalent races on the women's circuit: Amstel Gold Race for Women , La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes . Prior, there

182-606: Was already a points classification for the Belgian Ardennes classics, called Ardennes Weekend (combining La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège). With the introduction of the Amstel Gold race, originally between both races, the period between the Belgian classics was extended to 1,5 week. Since then, the original points classification became unofficial. The only male winners of the "triple" are Davide Rebellin in 2004 and Philippe Gilbert in 2011. Gilbert also won

196-646: Was rescheduled to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Today, the event starts in Charleroi and heads east to Huy, where the riders do three laps of a tough circuit including the steep Mur de Huy (the Wall of Huy) climb, with several sections steeper than 15% and up to 26% on one section. The finish is at the top of the Mur after the third ascent, and ascent of 'the Mur' is considered the iconic and emblematic feature of

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