All eyes on Sunday! Seixas wins La Flèche Wallonne, sets his sights on Liége

Paul Seixas has won La Flèche Wallonne. The 19-year-old Frenchman was the strongest on the Mur de Huy and exceeded every expectation. On the steepest sections he launched a double acceleration that proved too much for Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike).

A finish like Huy never lies. With gradients above 20%, only the true specialists rise to the top — yet the race's history has thrown up its share of surprises. One thing that has not always been the case, however, is this iconic finish venue. Before 1985 the race was not decided on the fearsome little lump at all. Since then, it has defined the event.

Often an outright top favourite wins: think of Tadej Pogačar in 2023 and 2025, or the five victories of El Imbatido Alejandro Valverde. But underdogs can seize their moment too. Who had Stephen Williams down for 2024? Defending champion Pogačar was absent this time around, and so many eyes turned to top talent Paul Seixas.

But could the Frenchman strike immediately on debut and claim his first major classic? It would have been quite a feat — only one rider had previously won a La Flèche Wallonne finishing on the Mur de Huy at their first attempt. That was Marc Hirschi in 2020.

It took just over ten kilometres for the day's breakaway to establish itself. Two Dutchmen had secured their places in the move: Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost). They were joined by Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X), Alan Jousseaume (TotalEnergies), Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural) and Vincent Van Hemelen (Flanders-Baloise).

With a lead of just under three minutes, the six came over the first two climbs before a transitional phase towards the finishing circuit. That local loop contains La Flèche Wallonne's well-known climbs: first the Côte d'Ereffe, then the Côte de Cherave, and finally the Mur de Huy — each tackled three times.

The first passage of Huy came at around 76 kilometres. Van Hemelen was dropped from the breakaway there. In the peloton, an attacking phase began: several outsiders tried to split the bunch, but it was a hopeless task. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates-XRG maintained control. The break still had a minute in hand as the final hour of racing began.

A relatively quiet spell followed, broken by several crashes. On the descent towards the second passage of the Mur, riders including Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) — an outsider for the win — hit the tarmac, along with Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull). Two hundred metres further on, another Groupama-FDJ rider went down. The pace was still not especially high, and Johannessen was able to rejoin.

At the front, Van der Lee and Leknessund were the strongest climbers and held a small lead over the peloton on the Mur. Bax and Otruba briefly reconnected. The breakaway was given a little more time by the bunch, but the peloton remained nervous. Another crash followed, this time involving former winner Marc Hirschi, who stayed on the ground for a long time and clutched his shoulder.

Around two kilometres earlier, Hirschi's teammate Yannis Voisard had also gone down. Kévin Vauquelin (INEOS Grenadiers) also had bad luck, after which the Frenchman received a bike from teammate Axel Laurance — who then did his best Chris Froome on Mont Ventoux impression, running back up the road in search of a replacement. Meanwhile, Leknessund held on alone at the front for a remarkably long time.

As the Norwegian champion continued to dig in, the peloton went up the Côte de Cherave. Filippo Fiorelli (Visma | Lease a Bike) made an attempt there, but the men of Seixas had kept a stranglehold on the race throughout. The sprint towards the Mur de Huy was unleashed, though the lead-out was somewhat chaotic, with domestiques pulling through for too long.

Seixas was delivered perfectly, with Ben Tulett, Lenny Martinez and Benoît Cosnefroy all well placed around him. The group waited for the big attack, the first coming from Seixas himself.

He went on the steepest section of the climb, but Tulett and Cosnefroy hung on well. Mauro Schmid also latched on. The Frenchman's second acceleration, however, was too much for everyone. Schmid finished second, Tulett third.