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Spaniard Roger Adrià (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) outsprinted compatriot Alex Aranburu (Movistar) to win the one-day Grand Prix de Wallonie.
Clément Champoussin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) held off Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) for the final spot on the podium.
Aranburu led through the final left-hand corner for the final 250-metre straightaway to the signature finish to the Citadel of Namur, but Adrià struck with a vicious acceleration just before the line to swipe the victory.
Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) joined Mads Würtz Schmidt (Israel-Premier Tech) in a two-rider breakaway with 14km to go. Zimmermann then attacked on the final 2km of the climb but was caught by the chasers with 500 metres to go after a false flat, setting up the Spanish sprint.
The peloton raced 202.3km from Blegny to the Citadelle de Namur, the fourth consecutive year with the climb of the Citadel deciding the winner of the one-day race.
The first 55km of the route included two categorised ascents and rolling roads through Vallée de la Molignée. The route became hilly again for the final segment, passing over Côte Ermeton (2.1km at 4.1%) and taking on an uphill intermediate sprint. An uncategorised climb of the Route Merveilleuse (1.9km at 5.3%) follows as the appetizer that led into the final 9km for the finish at the Citadel of Namur.
An early breakaway included Gleb Brussenskiy (Astana Qazaqstan), Jan Sommer (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Arno Claeys (Team Flanders-Baloise), Kenny Molly (Van Rysel-Roubaix), Michiel Lambrecht (Bingoal WB Devo), and Mulu kinfe Hailemichael (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), who set off in the opening 15 kilometres. The six riders built a margin of four minutes quickly, then held steady with a little more than two minutes ahead of the peloton for the next 100km.
The lead group saw their long day in the breakaway wither away as a mass of riders, led by Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lotto-Dstny, swarmed them on the final classified climb at Ermeton with under 44km to ride. Among the contenders in the lead group included Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny)…
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