The 2021 Grand Prix de Wallonie was the 61st edition of the

Grand Prix de Wallonie The Grand Prix de Wallonie is an annual road bicycle race held annually in Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, ...

road cycling one day race, which was held on 14 September 2021 as part of the

2021 UCI Europe Tour The 2021 UCI Europe Tour was the 17th season of the UCI Europe Tour. The season began on 24 January 2021 with the Trofeo Luis Puig, Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 – Gran Premio Valencia and ended on 24 October 2021 with the Ronde van Drent ...

and the 2021 UCI ProSeries calendars. This edition was the race's first in the

UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road cycling tour. It was inaugurated in 2020. The series is placed below the UCI World Tour, but above the various regional UCI Continental Circuits. Development In December 2018, the UCI announ ...

; the 2020 edition was expected to feature in the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...

UCI ProSeries but was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The race's hilly route covered in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

from

Aywaille Aywaille (; wa, Aiwêye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2012, Aywaille had a total population of 11,697. The total area is 80.04 km² which gives a population density of 146 inhabit ...

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

, and finished near the

Citadel of Namur The Citadel or Castle of Namur is a fortress in the Walloon capital city of Namur, at the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse rivers. It is originally from the Roman era, but has been rebuilt several times. Its current form was designed by Men ...

. After travelling west from the start, riders reached the outskirts of Namur and entered a local circuit after . The first passage through the finish line came after , from which point riders completed the full circuit once. The race then conclude with a climb up to the citadel. After a late attack from

Matis Louvel Matis Louvel (born 19 July 1999 at Mont-Saint-Aignan) is a French cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Major results ;2018 : 3rd Overall Valromey Tour ::1st Stage 4 : 9th La Route des Géants ;2019 : 1st Stage 4 Ronde de l'Isard : 1st ...

() in the final kilometre was brought back,

Christophe Laporte Christophe Laporte (born 11 December 1992 in La Seyne-sur-Mer) is a French cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Laporte was a member of from 2014 to 2021. He was named in the Team Cofidis start list for the Tour de France for seven co ...

() won the uphill sprint from a reduced bunch ahead of Louvel's teammate

Warren Barguil Warren Barguil (; born 28 October 1991) is a French cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam . He is best known for winning two mountain stages and the mountains classification of the 2017 Tour de France. Career Early career Born in Hennebont, Britta ...

, while

Tosh Van der Sande Tosh Van der Sande (born 28 November 1990) is a Belgian professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Van der Sande is considered as a classics specialist. Career Early career As a junior, he found success in track cycling. In 2 ...

() finished third.

Teams

Nine of the 19

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

s, seven UCI ProTeams, and four

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

teams made up the twenty teams that participated in the race. All but five teams entered a full squad of seven riders; these five teams were , , , , and , and they each entered six riders. In total, 135 riders started the race, of which 89 finished. UCI WorldTeams * * * * * * * * * UCI ProTeams * * * * * * * UCI Continental Teams * * * *

Teams

Result

References

Sources

External links