La Flèche Wallonne 2025: Favourites

The winning formula at La Flèche Wallonne has been the same for years: bide your time in the bunch, move up on the final climb, and make sure there’s still enough punch in the legs to finish it off when the Mur de Huy levels out on the home straight.

But is Remco Evenepoel going to rewrite that script and come up with a new recipe for success? A long-range attack, perhaps. Waiting for the final climb might not be the wisest move, given that Tadej Pogacar is the more explosive of the two. So yes, why not — a long-range effort could well be his best shot.

Then again, La Flèche Wallonne isn’t the kind of attritional race where team leaders are usually left isolated on the final lap. Quite the opposite, in fact. So staying ahead of the chasing pack won’t be easy. And even if Evenepoel does go early, you can be sure Pogacar will be keen to follow.

Even in last year’s freezing and rain-soaked edition, the usual winning formula held strong. Admittedly, several favourites were eliminated early on by the brutal conditions, but in the end, it still all came down — as ever — to the final climb of the Mur de Huy. Stephen Williams took the spoils ahead of Kévin Vauquelin and Maxim Van Gils.

Two years ago, Tadej Pogacar claimed victory with apparent ease, while this year’s Amstel Gold Race winner, Mattias Skjelmose, finished as best of the rest.

Favourites 2025 La Flèche Wallonne

***** Tadej Pogacar
**** Remco Evenepoel, Thibau Nys
*** Tom Pidcock, Mattias Skjelmose
** Lennert Van Eetvelt, Julian Alaphilippe
* Maxim Van Gils, Lenny Martinez, Kévin Vauquelin