Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) made history at La Flèche Wallonne, winning her sixth consecutive Mule de Uy. The world champion praised organizer ASO for committing to live coverage of the women's race for the first time this year, saying it was a statement that the Giro Rosa lost its World Tour status for not meeting the requirements for live coverage.

"First of all, live coverage is what women's cycling really needs right now. People should be able to watch our races. Because of the Coronavirus rule, nobody can watch live coverage," van der Breggen told Cycling News in a post-race interview.

"The Giro Rosa lost its Women's World Tour status because there was no live coverage. Women's World Tour races should have live coverage."

Van der Breggen first won the Flèche Wallonne title in 2015 and has won it every year since, winning for a record sixth time on Wednesday. She entered the race as the favorite to win the Dutch road race title, the European Championship time trial title, the overall title at the Giro Rosa, and the Imola World Championship time trial and road race world titles, the first time she has done so since 1995.

She praised her teammates in Boels Dolmans for making history in the Mule de Uy.

"The team helped me a lot," Van der Breggen told Cycling News. 'Kristine [Majerus] got me in the right position. Chantal (van den Broeck-Braak) and Amy (Peeters) were in the breakaway group and showed great pace on the climb before the Mûr de Huy.

"After their effort, I felt the pressure to win. The Mûr de Huy is a climb I really like, but it's always difficult to keep going to the finish without blowing it. I'm at the point where I feel like I have no choice but to lose this race because everyone expects me to win.

Van der Breggen's record sixth consecutive win in Mulle de Uys not only made history in this year's Flèche Wallonne. For the first time in the 23rd edition of the competition, fans from all over the world watched her performance as it was televised in 190 countries around the world.

"It was tremendous to see Anna van der Breggen win her sixth straight race," said Hannah Walker, a former professional cyclist who did the broadcast play-by-play.

"She came into the race as the hot favorite and had already won five in a row. After her win at the Giro Rosa and then her time trial and road race wins at the World Championships, she was in great shape," Walker said.

"She's a really smart bike rider, tactically brilliant, and to make history six times in a row and in the rainbow jersey is incredible. It was also the first time that live footage of the race was shown, showing how far women's cycling has evolved and where it is going."

"It was a great opportunity to see how far women's cycling has come and where it is going.

The UCI requires 45 minutes of live television coverage for Women's World Tour events, but ASO went beyond that requirement and provided 90 minutes of high-definition coverage, including one helicopter, three bike cameras, and seven fixed cameras in Mulle de Uys. Although the broadcast lasted 90 minutes, in some areas fans were only able to see the 30 km finale of the race.

"For the 23rd time, for the first time, the race was broadcast live for an hour and a half in 190 countries, boosting the reach of the women's cycling community, teams and sponsors, and raising the profile of the riders," Walker said. 'It gave us a real sense of what was going on in the race, not just watching the leaders. We were on camera with Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig and showed what happened when she caught up with us after she switched bikes. It's important to look at what's happening in the race from all angles."

"It's very important to see how everything goes. You know what's going to happen in the last kilometer or two, but it's important to know how the race got there."

The UCI Women's World Tour race is required to be broadcast live on television for 45 minutes as part of the rules of being a World Tour. The leaders are always told, "Well done, well run, well done," and in previous years they would see highlights of the race.

"The Boels-Dolmans team was very strong in the final stages of the race and toyed with Trek-Segafredo in the last 40 km," Walker continued.

"Today, for Anna van der Breggen, Chantal van den Broeck-Braak and Amy Peters led the peloton in the finale, and for Elisa Longo-Borghini and Lizzie Deignan, Audrey Cordon-Lago and Ruth Winder. They did a fantastic job. The players show what teamwork and what is behind the winning team. They play a very important role and it is important to see how the race unfolds."

ASO came under fire last year for not providing live coverage of Flèche Wallonne when Van der Breggen won his fifth title in the 2019 event. While a fixed camera in the Mûr de Huy filmed the final climb, and the footage was occasionally shown on screens at the finish and in the press room, it was hit or miss whether this footage was broadcast on television.

At a post-race press conference last year, van der Breggen was disappointed by the lack of television coverage and demanded more from the race organizers. I think by now we deserve to have live coverage that people can follow us," van der Breggen said at the time. Because a lot of people want it and we want to show it. I think now is the time."

The ASO has made a marked change in its commitment to women's racing this year. The Fleche Wallonne is one of several women's races run by ASO, including Le Tour de France La Course, Liege-Bastonge-Liege, and the Madrid Challenge, which are broadcast live. It has been criticized for not hosting a women's Tour de France, but has reportedly committed to hosting a women's stage race in 2022 and introduced the first ever women's Paris-Roubaix, which will be held on October 25 this year.

"The minimum required is 45 minutes of live coverage, but Flèche Wallonne was an hour and a half," Walker said.

"ASO listened to everyone and did an excellent job of staging the women's race. The same was true of La Course a few weeks ago, and Liège - Bastogne - Liège will be broadcast live on Sunday. Things are moving in the right direction, getting bigger and better, and we thank ASO for showcasing what took place in today's race and for showing us Anna van der Breggen's historic sixth consecutive win. We can celebrate the fact that this was all live."

The complete live coverage of the Fleche Wallonne is in contrast to the Giro Rosa two weeks ago, which failed to meet the requirements for live television coverage to be a World Tour-level event and was downgraded to 2. pro in 2021.

Walker believes that people want to see the women's race live on TV, but at the same time the world is hungry for sporting events because of COVID-19, which has made them appreciate the Flèche Wallonne experience more.

"Everyone has had a life without sports, but now that the race is happening, everyone is delighted to be able to watch the race, to see what is happening, how the race unfolds and who wins.

"Those who were not able to see the Giro Rosa were disappointed, but many teams did a good job of showing fans what was happening with behind-the-scenes footage and video content.

"The coverage from Flèche Wallonne today was excellent. Also, because of COVID-19, there were no fans in Mulle de Huy, so for those fans, they were able to stay home and watch the live coverage and not miss anything and watch the race from home.

"It was my first time doing a live broadcast by myself and it was a great fraîche Wallonne. I enjoyed it very much. It was the first time it was broadcast live and it went down in history. It was a great race," Walker said.

Highlights of the 2020 Flèche Wallonne are below.

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