Mauro Schmid continued his impressive run of form with a sensational second place at Flèche Wallonne.
The Swiss champion backed up his sixth-place finish at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday with another stellar performance as he powered up the final climb to secure the runners-up spot.
A strong tailwind made for a rapid race with the break of the day barely allowed much of an advantage. The attackers were eventually reeled back in on the finishing circuits as the repeated ascents of the Mur de Huy began to take their toll on the tiring peloton.
As the bell rang for the final lap, Team Jayco AlUla sprang into action as Schmid made his way from the rear of the bunch and up towards the front. A strong lead out into the penultimate climb from Brabanste Pijl winner Anders Foldager insured the squad had a strong position for the finale, with Andrea Vendramme and Schmid in tow.
The fight for space saw Schmid shuffled back in the pack, but the Coppi e Bartali winner was alert to the danger and soon sliced his way through the peloton to sit in the top five as the road began to ramp up.
It was then a waiting game as the gradient edged into double figures with riders beginning to drop away, while Schmid remained. As Paul Seixas made his move with 250 metres to go, nobody was able to respond, but behind Schmid used his strength to race past his rivals for the final podium spots and secure a hard-fought second place.
Mauro Schmid:
“I think overall it was a pretty hard day actually, with the tailwind, it was always on the pedals all day. The first 100km, in my opinion, were harder than last year, so I didn’t really feel great at the start.
Also, the first time doing the circuit, I didn’t really have good legs, but I felt like the finish suited me, so I didn’t want to let the team down and give it a crack.
On the second last climb, so like 6km to go, I felt super good and got into a good position. Then unfortunately on the run into the Mur I messed it up a little bit and I was quite far back, so I said to myself I just need to go early because afterwards when you get stuck with like 500 metres to go you cannot move anymore.
I just went straight to the front, and I had to do a big effort to go to get there. At 300 to go I was feeling like it’s really hard when Paul [Seixas] went, but then I looked back and saw nobody was coming anymore, so I was like yeah, I think that’s the reason why I’m suffering. I’m super happy with the second place here.”
2026 Flèche Wallonne – Results:
1. Paul Seixas 4:35:29
2. Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) 0:03
3. Ben Tulett ST
Photos: Sprint Cycling
