Race Report: La Flèche Wallonne Féminine World Cup

Celebrating the Minor Victories

This past Wednesday we competed in the La Fleche Wallonne Feminine World Cup in Huy, Belgium.  The race is famous for the very steep finishing ascent up the Mur de Huy.  I was expecting the race to be really hard from the start like the previous World Cup race, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, in Italy that I competed in.  It seemed like the bunch was waiting for the first climb up the Mur de Huy.  This gave me time to build some confidence in the bunch.  I even attacked once, for the first time in a UCI race, and although the small break was really short lived it was encouraging for me to be in a position to attack and respond to the racing that happens in the front of the bunch.  I got to the top of the Mur de Huy about a bike length behind the front group but with a strong cross wind over the top there was no getting back into the race even after a long chase.  For the last 30km of the race Jo and I were in the chasing bunch.  Ashleigh Moolman rode an extraordinary race and finished 5^th on the day.  A really impressive result!  Some mechanical issues with my chain dropping from the small blade on the steep climbs did not make an already tough race any easier either but I hit the last climb up the Mur de Huy with the chase group and finished 72th in the end.  From each race I gain more and more experience and although you always strive to do better achieving a small goal like being able to attack or move a bit better in the bunch build confidence for what is still to come.

After the finish we got to spend some time with the sponsors in a tent at the base of the Mur de Huy watching as the men battle the steep slopes.

Minor goal for race achieved:  Off the front after attacking and it was caught on camera :)

Me and Jo up the Mur de Huy

Team presentation in the freezing cold weather prior to the race



The men suffering up the Mur de Huy not once, not twice but three times