The Mur de Huy is tough enough under good conditions. But for Kasian Niewiadoma-Phinney (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) a glitchy front derailleur made it even harder. If you watched La Fleche Wallone on Wednesday, you saw the looks on the riders faces as they powered up the extremely tough ramp. It is a brutally steep 1.3-km climb averaging about 9.6 per cent. There are pitches ramping up to roughly 20 per cent at its toughest.
Hubby Taylor mentions what happened
She didn’t mention it after the race, but her former pro husband…or current pro? Or soon-to-be pro? Or future Olympian? Or whatever he is, Taylor Phinney, mentioned on Instagram Stories that she was stuck in the big ring. He said his wife would never mention it, but she rode the entire thing, including that brutal 20 per cent section, in the large chainring. He even joked that former Italian star Michele Bartoli was the only one who did it once, but he probably only had a 52.
“I’m definitely not happy. I was really bummed with the last climb because I got stuck on the big chain ring. I had to just power through the climb and couldn’t shift to the small one for some reason. That was not ideal, and we didn’t come here for fourth, but c’est la vie,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said to cyclingnews.com.
Vollering takes it…barely
Wednesday’s La Flèche Wallonne Féminine came down, as it always does, to the Mur de Huy, where Demi Vollering kicked first and held off Puck Pieterse in a tight finish. The Dutch cross star from Fenix-Premier Tech actually almost caught the European champ. (A few more metres and it would have been a repeat dub for Pieterse.) An aggressive middle phase reshaped the race, with the peloton whittled down before the final climb. Magdeleine Vallières Mill hung tough near the front, while Isabella Holmgren slipped back on the steep opening ramps.
Despite the less-than-ideal gearing–and if you watch the replays, you can definitely see that the Polish champ was grinding, she finished just outside of the podium. Still, great little strength workout?
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…