⁍ The 22-year-old Sunweb rider also won two stages on the Tour de France this year.

---

⁍ Austrian Anna van der Breggen won the women’s race for the sixth time in a row.

---

⁍ Julian Alaphilippe opted out of the race as he recovers for Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege Monument classic.

---

– Swiss cyclist Marc Hirschi won the Fleche Wallonne classic race on Wednesday, confirming his status as one of the top prospects in cycling three days after taking the bronze medal at the world championships. The 22-year-old Sunweb rider, who also won two stages on the Tour de France this year, waited for the right moment to pounce, some 100 meters from the line in the climb up to the Mur de Huy, a brutal 1.3-km ascent at an average gradient of 9.6%, reports Reuters. France’s Benoit Cosnefroy took second place ahead of Canadian Michael Woods. In the women’s race, Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen, who won the road race and time trial titles at the world championships last weekend, was again in a league of her own, winning the race for the sixth time in a row.