Spratt was kept near the front of the race by her Team BikeExchange squad, with a reduced peloton tackling the final kilometres of the 130-kilometre race.
The race burst into life when a dangerous group of three riders was reeled back in on the Côte d’Ereffe with 20km remaining. A counterattack was immediately launched as Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) escaped from the reduced bunch and opened up a gap of more than 30 seconds.
A select group of favourites then formed as Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) made her move on the penultimate climb of the day, dragging nine riders clear with ten kilometres left to race. But with nobody willing to lead the chase, the group began to attack each other with Spratt having her own dig off the front with seven kilometres to go.
However, it all came down to the final time up the Mur de Huy as Winder was hauled back on the early slopes of the climb. Spratt moved herself up to be positioned at the head of the group, but as the pace increased the 33-year-old couldn’t follow, and nobody was able to prevent van der Breggen taking her seventh consecutive Flèche Wallonne victory.
“The girls did an amazing job the whole race and they put me right up there in position to fight for the win," said Spratt. "Annemiek went on the penultimate climb and I was happy that I could be there in that group of nine fighting for the win.
"In the end, I just didn’t have the legs the final time up the Mur, but I’m still really positive about my race and the whole team performance."
Spratt reflected that she might have conserved some more energy in the lead-up to the climb.
"It just came down to the Mur, I spoke a little bit to Alejandro and I could maybe have been a bit cooler once that group of nine formed and just saved all of my energy, but that’s something to work on.”
