| 2018 La Flèche Wallonne | |
| Series: | 2018 UCI World Tour |
| Race No: | 17 |
| Season No: | 37 |
| Date: | 18 April 2018 |
| Stages: | 1 |
| Distance: | 198.5 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 4h 53' 37"[1] |
| Speed: | 40.563 |
| First: | Julian Alaphilippe |
| First Nat: | FRA |
| Second: | Alejandro Valverde |
| Second Nat: | ESP |
| Third: | Jelle Vanendert |
| Third Nat: | BEL |
| Previous: | 2017 |
| Next: | 2019 |
The 2018 La Flèche Wallonne was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 18 April 2018 in Belgium. It was the 82nd edition of the La Flèche Wallonne and the seventeenth event of the 2018 UCI World Tour.[2] [3]
During the third and final ascent of the Mur de Huy, rider Julian Alaphilippe accelerated near the summit, overtaking race leader Jelle Vanendert in the last 100 metres of the race and dropping him. Alejandro Valverde, who had won the last four editions for the, staged a late fight-back and almost caught Alaphilippe, but Alaphilippe was able to kick again in the final metres to increase his lead, to win by four seconds from Valverde. It was the biggest victory of Alaphilippe's career at that point, becoming the first French winner of the race since Laurent Jalabert in 1997.[4]
As La Flèche Wallonne was a UCI World Tour event, all eighteen UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team in the race. Seven UCI Professional Continental teams competed as wildcards,[5] completing the 25-team peloton.