Roglic debuts in the Flèche Wallonne with second place
Primoz Roglic embellished his first appearance in the Flèche Wallonne with a strong second place. The Slovenian jumped away on the steep Mur de Huy, but eventually had to acknowledge his superiority to world champion Julian Alaphilippe.
The classic image of the midweek Ardennes Classics was also present in the 2021 edition. A front group of eight got away and the last escapee was caught in the final stage. Team Jumbo-Visma covered Roglic well. Robert Gesink and Sam Oomen, among others, countered a number of attacks on the penultimate climb of the day. On the all-decisive Mur de Huy it was exciting until the end.
"When you feel that the legs are good, you just have to attack."
Roglic spoke of a deserved victory for the world champion. “Julian was the strongest rider on the climb. He deserved to win. The final climb is really difficult and tough, but it’s one that suits me. I was in a good position and went for it. When you feel that the legs are good, you just have to attack. That is what I did. Unfortunately, I got caught up just before the finish. That’s racing.”
The defending champion of La Doyenne is already looking forward to the upcoming classics. “I’m looking forward to Liege-Bastogne-Liege. My form is good and I want to show again what I can do. Hopefully I can compete for the podium again.”
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Flèche Wallonne
One day race
Result
1
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick Step
04:36:25
2
Primož Roglič
Team Jumbo-Visma
+00:00:00
3
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+00:00:06
37
Sam Oomen
Team Jumbo-Visma
+00:00:46
38
Robert Gesink
Team Jumbo-Visma
+00:00:46
83
Lennard Hofstede
Team Jumbo-Visma
+00:03:53
84
Jonas Vingegaard
Team Jumbo-Visma
+00:04:05
125
Paul Martens
Team Jumbo-Visma
+00:12:17
129
Christoph Pfingsten
Team Jumbo-Visma
+00:12:26
