Elie Gesbert: "Good or not, Huy always burns your legs”
The Flèche Wallonne is a classic uphill race, with the famous Mur de Huy, where Elie Gesbert and Warren Barguil tell us about its characteristics.
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Pre-race
“The paradox is that my passion for the Flèche was born from my first participation, when I unfortunately had to give up. But the course, the enthusiasm of the public at the roadside, seduced me. I said to myself “wow”! The mythical side of the Mur de Huy is this steep climb, so special and which fits in my characteristics. It’s a climb that I like, of course, and that has been successful for me for several seasons already. I often watched the replay of the Flèche Wallonne race because it was on Wednesday and it often fell during my training sessions, but I always watched the race”.
“I will participate for the third time in the Flèche Wallonne. This is the first event that allowed me to distinguish myself when I was only a neo-professional. It is an event that I appreciate, it is mythical, it is not a monument, but it remains a great meeting before “La Doyenne”. I have good memories of this classic. Huy? It’s hard, whether you’re good or not, in both cases it burns your legs (sic!)”.
The briefing
“The Flèche Wallonne is a classic that Warren has been doing well for the last few seasons. He finished 4th and 5th at the top of the Mur de Huy in 2020 and 2021 which shows that he is on course for a great performance in this Ardennes classic which always attracts the biggest names in the peloton. He knows this race by heart and has enough experience to tackle the Mur de Huy in an optimal way. We have put more riders around him than ever before in order to allow him to tackle the last climb of this classic in the best possible way. He will have team-mates to surround him in the vicinity of the finish, and others to place him well at the foot of Huy before the finish”.