Team Sunweb’s Marc Hirschi produced another brilliantly powerful display to win the first Classic of the season, La Fleche Wallone.

The 22-year-old Swiss proved strongest in the punishing finish up the Mur de Huy as he managed his effort to perfection, grinding his way past Michael Woods inside the final 100 metres.

Frenchman Benoit Cosnefroy also leapfrogged Woods to take second place, with the Canadian having to settle for third in Belgium.

"It went perfect for us with a small group of four guys and my team did a really good job, we put one of the guys to control the race," Hirschi said as reported by Cycling News.

"In the final laps, it was so fast anyway, that the guys came back, and on the last climb I had the legs.

"It was so hard … It’s a steep but steady and you don’t have to go too early, but you are fully lactic acid, and it’s about what’s in the head, you have to be strong in the head to get through the pain."

The win is Hirschi’s biggest one-day victory to date and comes less than three weeks after he picked up a stage win at the Tour de France.

The youngster also picked up the Combativity award in France, which is given to the most aggressive rider over the three weeks.

Seven days after the Tour, Hirschi found himself in contention for a major race once again as he picked up the bronze medal at the World Championships in the elite men’s road race.

He will now have one eye on the next Classic of the season, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which gets underway on Sunday.