2012 La Flèche Wallonne

Race Report
(via ASO media release)

At long last, Joaquim Rodríguez has the major Classic he was looking for in the bag, and the 32-year-old Spaniard said he believed he could finally crack open the champagne in Fleche Wallone thanks to his using the same strategy as a certain Philippe Gilbert.

“I attacked in exactly the same spot on the Mur de Huy as Gilbert last year,” said the Katusha rider, who made his move 400 metres from the finish line for an impressive solo win. “I knew deep down that this was the right place, so even if I had been worried that it was a bit too far out, I talked myself into doing it.”
“About 50 kilometres from the finish, I began to think that this really could be my day, I told the team that was the case, and I decided to go all out for the win on the Mur.”
“It’s a huge, huge win for me. Finishing second so many times in so many different Classics, and finally being able to win is a totally different story. And I’m not like a lot of Spaniards, for me the Classics are more important than stage races. This Ardennes week is my highpoint of the year, and this is a win I badly wanted.”

So what made the difference between all those years of near-misses and a victory in Fleche Wallone? For example, was Rodriguez stronger now than Belgian favourite Gilbert, who made a devastating attack on the Mur de Huy last April, or was Gilbert not as strong as last year? “The latter,” Rodríguez answered, “that’s for sure. Last year he was impossible to beat. This time round it’s a different story, but we can see that his form is steadily improving. We can’t rule him out for Sunday and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.”

As for what this victory meant to him after so many second and third places in the major Classics, Rodríguez said the difference was “enormous.” ?“This is not like in Formula One where a third or fourth place is almost as important as winning. In cycling we only celebrate victories and that’s why I had to change teams, moving on to Katusha, because I needed a chance to win big races and I finally got what I was looking for in that team.”

“Maybe the other difference between this year and the last, too, is that Gilbert is beatable. Without him there in 2011, perhaps I’d already have won Flèche or Amstel.”
As for his chances in La Doyenne on Sunday, Rodríguez -second in Liege in 2009 – says he is determined to go all out for the win, but points out that he’s not the only rider in his team with chances in the Ardennes ’Monument’. Oscar Freire, fourth in Amstel Gold Race, is one possible card for the Russian team to play, and so, too, is another Spanish team-mate Dani Moreno. But after such a convincing victory in Flèche Wallone, Rodriguez will surely be dreaming of imitating Gilbert once again -and winning in Liege this Sunday – too.

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