Spain's Joaquin Rodriguez, riding for the Katusha team, won the Fleche Wallonne one-day cycling classic here on Wednesday. Rodriguez, a noted climber, pulled clear on the gruelling final ascent of the 194km race to cross the finish on the Mur de Huy summit ahead of Swiss rival Michael Albasini. Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert came in third. For Rodriguez this was a fitting victory, as he had taken second place in the last two editions of the Ardennes event, which sandwiches last weekend's Amstel Gold Race and Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic.