Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) won the Flèche Wallonne Femmes, sitting on the wheel of Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) until the last 200 metres and reacting to an acceleration by Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek).
Niewiadoma quickly pulled ahead and opened a gap on the other two, and although Vollering came closer again on the final metres, but Niewiadoma raised her right arm as she crossed the line first.
The breakaway was reeled in on the last ten kilometres, and there were several attacks in the final. Riejanne Markus (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) was first onto the Mur de Huy but was quickly caught as Vollering set the pace from the bottom.
Soon, only Niewiadoma, Longo Borghini, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal), Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), and Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) could follow the Dutch champion, and the latter three had to leave a gap eventually.
250 metres from the line, Niewiadoma came alongside Vollering but waited to make a move until Longo Borghini accelerated on the other side of the road. Then the Polish allrounder kicked into gear and sprinted away from the two others, holding her advantage to the finish line.
“It means a lot. I have experienced a lot of failures and a lot of second and third places, but I never stopped believing that, as a team, we can win another race. I really hope that this race will inspire a lot of people to just keep believing, keep pursuing their dreams, because the reward is always there waiting for us,” Niewiadoma said after her first individual road victory since June 2019.
