Walloon Arrow 2025, Pieterse wins the women's race. Longo Borghini third

Huy (Belgium), 23 April 2025 - After Tadej pogacar it's up to Puck Pieterse: Wall of Huy as always it gives its verdicts and for the Walloon Arrow 2025 At the female level, the one smiling is the Dutch one Fenix-Deceuninck, who with a long and powerful sprint precedes her compatriot on the podium Demi Vollering ed Elisa Longo Borghini.  

Race report

  The class of 2002, at the first significant achievement in their career in a classical, makes the most of her explosiveness gained off-road, between cyclocross, cross country and mountain bike: for her a winning debut materializes at Vallone Arrow as it only happened to the Canadian Genevieve Jeanson since 2000 and to the blue one Fabiana Luperini since 1998, the debut year of the Belgian race. The day opened with the usual breakaway of the day which featured names that were apparently not top-level, before the much more consistent and vigorous action of Cedrine Kerbaol, match on Cote d'Ereffe. The group, however, as expected, did not leave much space and so the Frenchwoman's attempt died out shortly before the race arrived at the most iconic and anticipated point, where, not by chance, the most anticipated names entered the scene. The one to open the dance was precisely Vollering, but the best pedal stroke is that of the very young Pieterse, which goes to win the second act of the triptych of Ardennes. For Longo Borghini third place at the Flèche Wallonne now seems like a given, with the same placing having already been achieved in 2014, in 2021 and in 2024, with the only variation represented by the second place of the 2013. For the Piedmontese, the consolation is the sprint victory against an opponent who is never banal like Katarzyna Niewiadoma: good signs ahead of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025 on Sunday, which in turn will precede the season of Grand Tours.

Nys' statements

  Among the protagonists most awaited and feared by the rivals (on allthe Remco Evenepoel) of the men's race there was Thibau Nys, who became captain after his teammate's fall Mattias Skjelmose, who had earned his stripes at home Lidl Trek with the recent success at Amstel Gold Race 2025. The son of art, himself debuting as Pieterse and a great prospect in the mud of cyclocross, a few hours earlier he had finished eighth, between satisfaction and regrets related in particular to the weather. "I was very cold and I had problems with my clothing throughout the race: sometimes it was too cold, while on the climbs I felt too hot. My legs were completely blocked. Also for this reason, finishing in the top 10 is not bad, but honestly I came here for something more."

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