During the third and final ascent of the Mur de Huy, Quick-Step Floors rider Julian Alaphilippe accelerated near the summit, overtaking race leader Jelle Vanendert (Lotto–Soudal) in the last 100 metres of the race and dropping him. Alejandro Valverde, who had won the last four editions for the Movistar Team, staged a late fight-back and almost caught Alaphilippe, but Alaphilippe was able to kick again in the final metres to increase his lead, to win by four seconds from Valverde. It was the biggest victory of Alaphilippe's career at that point, becoming the first French winner of the race since Laurent Jalabert in 1997.[4]
Teams
As La Flèche Wallonne was a UCI World Tour event, all eighteen UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team in the race. Seven UCI Professional Continental teams competed as wildcards,[5] completing the 25-team peloton.
