La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday 17th April marks the halfway point of cycling’s Ardennes week, flanked by the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It’s all about one thing: the famous Mur de Huy. Translated to ‘the Wall of Huy’, its position towards the end of the race deals a knockout blow to anyone suffering before its 9.6% average, and brutal 26% max gradient.
Like many cycling races, La Flèche Wallonne was first run to boost sales of the newspaper Les Sports in 1936. The men’s race became part of the WorldTour in 2009 with the women’s race created in 1998 and moved to WorldTour status in 2016. Anna van der Breggen’s dominancy in La Flèche Wallonne with seven victories helped earn her the nickname ‘Queen of the Ardennes’, while retired-road-now-active-gravel-rider Alejandro Valverde holds the title for most wins in the men’s peloton with five.
In 2023, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) took his final victory of the spring on the Mur de Huy just a matter of days before snapping his wrist, while Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) took the women’s title on her way to an Ardennes Triple. Pogačar won’t be in attendance to defend his title, but Vollering is scheduled to take part in La Flèche on Wednesday.
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- Read more: Mur de Huy classic climb
La Flèche Wallonne 2024: Key information
- Date: Wednesday 17th April 2024
- Start: Women’s – Huy; Men’s – Charleroi
- Finish: Huy
- Distance: Women’s – 143.5km; Men’s – 199.1km
- Live TV coverage: Eurosport 2, discovery+
- 2023 winners: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates); Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx)
- Most wins: Anna van der Breggen (seven), Alejandro Valverde (five)
La Flèche Wallonne 2024: Routes and profiles
Men’s parcours
Beginning in Charleroi – a place known as the ‘world’s ugliest city’ – the men’s race will snake its way around Brussels before heading towards the mythical town of Huy in the Ardennes. Four laps around Huy will await with the Côte d’Ereffe (2.1km, 5%), Côte de Cherave (1.3km, 8.1%) and the Mur de Huy (1.3km, 9.6%) on the menu. The Mur de Huy will come on the final time of asking at 1.3 kilometres to go and will beg of the riders to tackle the double-digit gradients all the way to the line at the climb’s peak.
The men’s route for the 2024 La Flèche Wallonne will clock up a distance of 199.1km, translating to a grand total of 2,853m of climbing.
Women’s parcours
The women’s parcours remains unchanged from the one tackled 12 months ago. The race will head out from Huy before diving into the Wallonian countryside. After the half-way marker in the race, the peloton will enter a circuit featuring three climbs: the Mur de Huy (1.3km, 9.6%), Côte d’Ereffe (2.1km, 5%) and Côte de Cherave (1.3km, 8.1%).
The 2024 women’s race will take riders up the Mur de Huy on two seperate occasions, bringing the profile up to 143.5km with a total elevation gain of 1,953m.
La Flèche Wallonne 2024: How to watch on TV and streaming
The men's and women's Flèches Wallonnes will be available to watch in the UK on Eurosport and Discovery+ for £6.99 per month with the basic package, which includes cycling and all other Eurosport programmes. It will also be shown on the TV channel Eurosport 1 in the UK.
If it’s not being shown in your country, you may be able to watch coverage using a VPN – Virtual Private Network – which allows users to mask their IP address and watch geo-blocked content, provided they don’t need to pay for a subscription. This is also helpful for watching paid-for coverage while travelling abroad in countries without access.
One such example is ExpressVPN, which is very well reviewed, helps users to find a way to watch cycling without having to pay for broadcasters services, and costs £5.36 per month, with three months free. Other options include NordVPN, Surfshark and Kapersky.
Live TV and streaming times
All times BST and subject to change by broadcasters.
Men’s Flèche Wallonne
- Discovery+: 11:45 - 15:55
- Eurosport 1: 13:30 - 15:30
Women’s Flèche Wallonne
- Eurosport 1 15:55 - 17:00
- Discovery+: 15:55 - 17:15
International broadcasters
Women's race
Australia: SBS
Belgium: RTBF, VRT
Canada: FloBikes
Colombia: Señal Colombia
Denmark: TV2
Europe: Eurosport
France: France Television
Italy: Rai Sport
Japan: J Sports
Latin America and Caribbean: ESPN International
Netherlands: NOS
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Norway: TV2
South East Asia: Eurosport 1
Sub-Saharan Africa: Supersport
United States: NBC Sports
Men's race
Australia: SBS
Belgium: RTBF La Une, VRT Eén
Canada: FloBikes
China: Zhibo TV
Colombia: Caracol TV
Denmark: TV2
Europe: Eurosport
France: France 3, Eurosport France
Italy: Rai Sport
Japan: J Sports
Latin America and Caribbean: ESPN International
Luxembourg: RTL
Middle East & North Africa: beIN Sports
Netherlands: NOS
Norway: TV2
Slovakia: RTVS
South East Asia: Eurosport 1
Spain: Teledeporte
Sub-Saharan Africa: Supersport
Switzerland: SRG-SSR
United States: NBC Sports
La Flèche Wallonne 2024: Teams and line-ups
Women's race
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
Men's race
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
La Flèche Wallonne: Previous ten winners
2023: Tadej Pogačar, Demi Vollering
2022: Dylan Teuns; Marta Cavalli
2021: Julian Alaphilippe; Anna van der Breggen
2020: Marc Hirschi; Anna van der Breggen
2019: Julian Alaphilippe; Anna van der Breggen
2018: Julian Alaphilippe; Anna van der Breggen
2017: Alejandro Valverde; Anna van der Breggen
2016: Alejandro Valverde; Anna van der Breggen
2015: Alejandro Valverde; Anna van der Breggen
2014: Alejandro Valverde; Pauline Ferrand-Prévot
