Belgian rider Dylan Teuns of the Bahrain team won the Fleche Wallonne one-day classic on Wednesday at the top of the Mur de Huy.
In the sprint for the line, he edged out the Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), seeking a sixth Fleche victory, and Bora's Aleksandr Vlasov.
World champion and outgoing winner Julian Alaphilippe placed fourth over the 202 kilometre race which included three climbs of the Mur de Huy.
"The legs have spoken, the strongest won today," said three-time winner Alaphilippe.
Two-time Tour de France winner, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, dropped out of contention in the last 300 metres and failed to break the top 10.
Valverde, five days away from celebrating his 42nd birthday, climbed on to the podium for the ninth time in his favourite race, just 0.2 seconds behind Teuns.
It was his final chance to add to his five victories as the Spaniard has already announced that he is riding in his last season.
"I knew when Valverde was going to step up," Teuns commented.
"I was on his wheel. Then I felt him come back alongside. Fortunately, I still had some strength".
Teuns, 30, finished third in 2017 and has has won two stages on the Tour de France but this was his biggest victory so far.
"I have never felt so strong in the spring classics," added the Belgian.
The Italian Marta Cavalli of the FDJ team won the women's 133-kilometre race, ahead of the Dutch pair Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx).
Ten days ago, Cavalli won the Amstel Gold one-day classic and also finished fifth in Saturday's Paris-Roubaix.