Alejandro Valverde, pictured in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, is seeking a fifth successive La Fleche Wallone win tomorrow ©Getty Images

Spain’s Alejandro Valverde will seek a fifth consecutive victory in La Fleche Wallone, and a sixth overall, as the one-day cycling classic stages its 82nd edition tomorrow.  

Traditionally the first of the two Belgian Ardennes Classics, this midweek race - which forms the 17th of 37 within this year’s International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour - has finished on the final climb of the Mur de Huy since 1984, making it ideal territory for elite uphill specialists.

It is a format that has demonstrably suited Valverde in recent years, and he will set out on from Seraing on the 198.5 kilometres course confident of extending his winning run.

No one could match Alejandro Valverde once again in last year's running of La Fleche Wallone - will it be different tomorrow? ©Getty Images
No one could match Alejandro Valverde once again in last year's running of La Fleche Wallone - will it be different tomorrow? ©Getty Images

The 37-year-old Spaniard has been in excellent form so far this season, and finished fifth in the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday (April 15), although he has yet to win a one-day Tour race this season.

On Sunday the Movistar main man was closely shadowed by 25-year-old French rider Julian Alaphilippe, of Quick Step Floors, who could be one of his closest challengers once again.

Alaphillipe also has affinity with this race in Belgium’s French-speaking Wallonia region, having finished second in 2015 and 2016.

Irish rider Dan Martin, of UAE Team Emirates, also looks like a serious contender having earned four top-five results in this race.

"We've just got to hope Valverde's getting slow," Martin said this week.

Other contenders include Quick Step’s 2011 winner Philippe Gilbert and the Team Sky pair of Michal Kwiatkowski and Sergio Henao.

Vincenzo Nibali, Roman Bardet, Simon Yates and Warren Barguil are also expected to be in the hunt.  

Rio 2016 champion Anna Van Der Breggen, pictured winning the Tour of Flanders on April 1, will seek a fourth consecutive Fleche Wallone Femmes title tomorrow ©Getty Images
Rio 2016 champion Anna Van Der Breggen, pictured winning the Tour of Flanders on April 1, will seek a fourth consecutive Fleche Wallone Femmes title tomorrow ©Getty Images

Meanwhile Anna Van Der Breggen, the Rio 2016 road champion from The Netherlands, is preparing to seek a fourth consecutive title in the 21st running of the women’s Fleche Wallone.

La Flèche Wallonne Femmes will feature a 118.5 km course with two ascents of Côte de Cherave instead of the usual one, but the decisive moves are likely to occur at the finish point of the Mur de Huy.

France’s 2014 winner Pauline Ferrand-Prevot this week described La Fleche Wallone Femmes as “still the best race in the world”, and said she would be working hard to assist the challenge of her Canyon SRam Racing team-mate Katarzyna Niewiadoma.

Van Der Breggen;s compatriot Annemiek Van Vleuten, riding for Mitchelton Scott, will also be an estimable challenger along with Elisa Longo Borghini of Wiggle High5.