Mur magic from Vollering for stunning victory
April 22 nd 2026 - 17:54
The 29th edition of La Flèche Wallonne Femmes was won in style by Demi Vollering (FDJ United - Suez) as she attacked 500 m from the finish on the Mur de Huy and held off 2025 winner Puck Pieterse (Fenix - Premier Tech) over the final metres. It was a sweet victory for Vollering - who won the race in 2023 - after she was beaten by Pieterse by two seconds last year and by the same margin by Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney in 2024. The top three was completed by rising Spanish star Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) who was 3” behind the front two, with Niewiadoma Phinney (Canyon//Sram zondacrypto) fourth at +6'' and seven-time winner Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) fifth at +11''. That result meant there were four former winners in the top five, alongside impressive debutant Blasi.
The early movers
There were 119 riders at the start, including five previous winners of this famous race, whilst Mirre Knaven (EF Education-Oatly) and Alexandra Manly (AG Insurance - Soudal) did not take the start. Lotte Claes (Fenix-Premier Tech) led the way at the top of the first climb of the day (Km 10.5: Côte de Bohissau - 2.2 km at 5.5%) and she soon formed a breakaway at the front with Malou Eisen (VolkerWessels), as Heidi Franz (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93) counter-attacked behind them.
Big chasing group
Following that trio, a strong group of nine chasers also pulled away from the peloton before the Côte de Courrière, featuring Evita Muzic (FDJ United - Suez), Justyna Czapla (Canyon//Sram zondacrypto), Viktoria Chladonova (Visma-Lease a Bike), Ricarda Bauernfeind (Lidl-Trek), Mikayla Harvey (SD Worx-Protime), Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ), India Grangier (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93), Daniela Hezinova (Picnic PostNL) and Irati Aranguren (Laboral Kutxa - Fundacion Euskadi). By km 30 Franz had been caught by the chasing group, who then became 10 strong, 50” behind the leaders and 50” ahead of the bunch.
Stable gaps established
At the foot of the Côte de Courrière (Km 38.3 - 1.4 km at 7%) the chasing group were 30” behind, with the peloton closing in at 1’05” off the leading pair. As on the Côte de Bohissau, Claes led Eisen at the summit of the Côte de Courrière. Only nine chasers remained at the foot of the Durnal climb (Km 49.1: Côte de Durnal (2.3 km at 4.6%)) as Czapla was unable to stay with the chase group due to a mechanical problem, which was still 35” adrift of the leading duo, with the gap to the peloton also stable (1'05"). Those time gaps remained exactly the same at the top of the Durnal climb with Claes again first to the summit and Eisen appearing to be struggling.
Nine become 11 at the front
The efforts of Claes and Eisen were impressive, but they were eventually caught by the counter attackers to form a front group of 11 riders at km 67, with the bunch trailing then by just 25”. By the half way point of the race the peloton were drawing in fast and at km 76 the bunch swallowed up the breakaway ahead of the punchy final two circuits, which would feature six tough climbs. Shortly after that Emilie Morier (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93) briefly opened up a small gap, but by 80 km her attack was neutralised, as the race headed towards the first ascent of the Côte d’Ereffe (Km 92.6, 2.1 km at 5%).
Tough final circuit
Axelle Dubau-Prevot (EF Education-Oatly) was the first rider over the summit of the Côte d'Ereffe, with the bunch exploding behind her and only 20 riders staying in a front group, before the peloton was able to come back together on the descent. On the first Côte de Cherave climb (Km 105.3, 1.3 km at 8.1%) it was Team Visma - Lease a Bike driving the bunch, with Marion Bunel leading the way. On the first climb of the fearsome Mur de Huy (Km 111, 1.3 km at 9.6%) it was Dubau-Prevot who crossed the line first with a 10” lead over a peloton led by Bunel, with her Visma-Lease a Bike colleague Pauline Ferrand-Prevot on her wheel.
One more final loop
With one more loop of the final circuit ahead, Dubau-Prevot accelerated away and Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility) joined her 32 km from the finish, the pair opening up a one-minute gap over the peloton. Starting the second Côte d’Ereffe climb, the leading duo saw their lead cut to 25 seconds, as the peloton chased hard behind them, driven by FDJ United - Suez, Movistar Team and UAE Team ADQ. Dubau-Prevot led the way over the Côte d'Ereffe for a second time and the gap increased slightly to 40”, then on the second time up the Côte de Cherave the breakaway duo were caught by the bunch early on the climb.
An elite group at the finale
An elite group of 11 formed on the Cherave climb, with Elise Chabbey (FDJ United – SUEZ) leading the way at the top. There were 16 riders in the group for the last climb as the expected final battle was played out on the Mur de Huy, with Vollering proving just too good for her rivals once more. The defending champion Pieterse made a real push to catch her compatriot and keep her crown in the final metres, but it was Vollering’s day on this occasion, having launched a brutal attack with 500 m to go. The podium was completed by the brilliant debutant Blasi, just four days after the young Spaniard won the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition on Sunday.
