FOURTH AGAIN FOR KASIA AT LA FLÈCHE WALLONNE

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney arrived at this year’s La Flèche Wallonne carrying a swag of standout performances from 2026, most recently a powerful climbing-then-sprinting display to secure second place at Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race.

La Flèche Wallonne remains as one of the most regimented races on the calendar, almost inevitably culminating in a pure power test on the infamous Mur de Huy (1.3km at 9.8%). It’s an agonising, slow-motion grind where victory is always hard-earned and fully deserved.

 It may make up only a small fraction of the 148km course, but almost everything beforehand serves as a means to that singular end; the 2026 edition adhered to the same formula. A two-rider break held a slender advantage inside the final 10km, but the race narrative was never truly in doubt. Antonia Niedermaier, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Kasia were all present in the reduced peloton heading into the Côte de Cherave, where the race both fractured and took shape.

A front group of around 15 riders came to the fore with just 5km remaining, with Kasia among them. It was descending to the river, before a flat run-in to the base of the Muur.

Onto the punishing slopes, Kasia quickly moved into contention, advancing from fourth to third and then into second wheel with 500m to go, but the gap to eventual winner Vollering [TFS] began to open inch by inch. Rocking her Canyon from side to side, she fought the gradient with everything she had, although her efforts were compromised. She ultimately had to settle for fourth place, the same result as in 2025.

Having experienced victory here in 2024 – now the only result that truly satisfies her on these slopes – the disappointment at the finish was clear.

“I’m not happy at all with the result. I’m super happy with how the team rode because it was a massive step up from Amstel, so that was nice to see the strength. And I felt good. But I had some issues on the climb and we didn’t come here for 4th.”

This marked Kasia’s 13th appearance at La Flèche Wallonne, and for the superstitious, it proved to be an unlucky one.

The team will now rest and reset – physically and mentally – ahead of Sunday’s final Ardennes showdown, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the only race of the trio that still eludes Kasia. After today, there may also be another sense of unfinished business.