The ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team takes on the Mur de Huy
Kévin Vauquelin will discover the Flèche Wallonne this Wednesday and its traditional finale at the top of the Mur de Huy. On the women’s side, the team will begin its Ardennes classics campaign this week.
World Team
« La Flèche Wallonne is one of the professional cycling events closest to my home. It’s a legendary competition for punchers-climbers. I’m going to compete in it for the third time in my career. It is a classic that is always difficult, offering a hilly route, and which will be even more so this season with the changes made to the course. La Flèche Wallonne requires two qualities: to be both enduring and punchy in the finish. The Mur de Huy is very hard in its main percentages but also after the line because it continues to climb, and it often hurts very much. This is where it can break when you attack the circuit laps. And the Ultimate ascent of this difficulty is truly terrible».
World Team
« I am going to discover this benchmark event for punchers-climbers which is the “Flèche Wallonne”. The effort is dense in the finale and shorter than on the Amstel and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of result I can get this season or in the future at this race. I will discover this competition on Wednesday, while benefiting from an ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team with great experience of the Flèche Wallonne. Which makes me even more impatient to be at the start of this classic».
Women’s Team
« La Flèche Wallonne is a race in which I have already been able to participate in 2022. The course is very demanding and it will be important for the ARKEA B&B HOTELS team to run as a team in order to stay placed and protect the designated leaders ».
World Team
« This Wednesday, Kévin Vauquelin will discover the Flèche Wallonne and its traditional arrival at the top of the Mur de Huy. Kévin is a punchy runner who can express himself in this type of race, we have already seen him highlight these qualities in certain events with the same characteristics, recently. On the other hand, let’s not forget that he will also be in discovery mode during this race, and that he is still learning, even if he and we have a great common ambition. Kévin will be surrounded by runners who have experience of the Flèche Wallonne, and will go up or place him at the opportune moments of this race which is often decided by placement, and which above all rewards those who know how to make the last effort at the right moment ».
Equipe Femmes
« La Flèche Wallonne, this Wednesday, will be a discovery for most of the runners in the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS training. This is a route suitable for climbers/punchers. There will be 146km on the program with a series of hills on the final circuit, and the finish judged in Huy. We will try to show ourselves at the front with the aim of taking the breakaways ».