It was held on 18 April 2012 over a distance of 194 kilometres (120.5 miles) and was the twelfth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.

The race was won by Team Katusha rider Joaquim Rodríguez – a former two-time runner-up in the race – after making a late-race attack on the Mur de Huy.

[1] Second place went to GreenEDGE's Michael Albasini,[2] while defending race winner Philippe Gilbert rounded out the podium placings for BMC Racing Team.

[3][4] As La Flèche Wallonne was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad.

Seven other squads were given wildcard places into the race,[5] and as such, formed the event's 25-team peloton.