2011 La Flèche Wallonne

The 2011 La Flèche Wallonne was the 75th running of La Flèche Wallonne, a single-day cycling race. It was held on 20 April 2011 over a distance of 201 kilometres (124.9 miles) between Charleroi and Huy in Belgium, and was the eleventh race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.^[1]

2011 La Flèche Wallonne

2011 UCI World Tour, race 11 of 27
Race details
Dates	20 April 2011
Stages	1
Distance	201 km (124.9 mi)
Winning time	4h 54' 57"
Results
Winner  Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) (Omega Pharma–Lotto)   Second  Joaquim Rodríguez (Spain) (Team Katusha)   Third  Samuel Sánchez (Spain) (Euskaltel–Euskadi)
← 2010 2012 →

As he had done in the closing stages of his winning performance at the Amstel Gold Race three days prior to La Flèche Wallonne, Omega Pharma–Lotto's Philippe Gilbert attacked on the final uphill climb – the Mur de Huy – to the finish and accelerated away from the field,^[2] gapping them by three seconds to take victory and his third classics win in the space of a week, having also won the Brabantse Pijl; the first rider to win all three in the same season.^[3] Gilbert also became the first Belgian to win La Flèche Wallonne since Mario Aerts won the race in 2002.^[4] Second place went to – just like he did in the Amstel Gold Race – Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha, with Samuel Sánchez finishing third for Euskaltel–Euskadi, five seconds behind Gilbert.^[5]

Teams

25 teams were selected to compete in the 2011 La Flèche Wallonne.^[6] All UCI ProTeams were represented as well as seven UCI Professional Continental teams. The teams that competed were:

• Ag2r–La Mondiale
• Astana
• BMC Racing Team
• Cofidis
• Euskaltel–Euskadi
• FDJ
• Garmin–Cervélo
• HTC–Highroad
• Lampre–ISD
• Landbouwkrediet
• Leopard Trek
• Liquigas–Cannondale
• Omega Pharma–Lotto
• Quick-Step
• Rabobank
• Saur–Sojasun
• Skil–Shimano
• Team Katusha
• Movistar Team
• Team RadioShack
• Saxo Bank–SunGard
• Team Sky
• Topsport Vlaanderen–Mercator
• Vacansoleil–DCM
• Veranda's Willems–Accent

Results

^[5]

	Cyclist	Team	Time	World Tour Points
1	Philippe Gilbert (BEL)	Omega Pharma–Lotto	4h 54' 57"	80
2	Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP)	Team Katusha	+ 3"	60
3	Samuel Sánchez (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 5"	50
4	Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)	Astana	+ 6"	40
5	Igor Antón (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 6"	30
6	Jelle Vanendert (BEL)	Omega Pharma–Lotto	+ 6"	22
7	Fränk Schleck (LUX)	Leopard Trek	+ 6"	14
8	Daniel Moreno (ESP)	Team Katusha	+ 9"	10
9	Christophe Le Mével (FRA)	Garmin–Cervélo	+ 12"	6
10	Paul Martens (GER)	Rabobank	+ 12"	2

References

1. "La Flèche Wallonne 2011". 20 April 2011.
2. FitzGerald, Michael (20 April 2011). "Peerless Gilbert wins Fleche-Wallonne". Yahoo! Eurosport. TF1 Group. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
3. "Unstoppable Gilbert captures first Fleche". Letour.fr. Amaury Sport Organisation. 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
4. Atkins, Ben (20 April 2011). "Philippe Gilbert romps to Flèche Wallonne victory". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
5. Decaluwé, Brecht (20 April 2011). "Gilbert takes audacious victory atop Mur de Huy". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2011-04-25. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
6. "Fleche Wallonne: the fight is on!". Letour.fr. Amaury Sport Organisation. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.

External links

• Official website