Liège-Bastogne-Liège, also known as “La Doyenne” (the Doyenne), is the oldest of the Monument Classics. Born in 1892, it crosses the Walloon Ardennes with a tough, selective route rich in short but explosive climbs. Throughout its long history, it has rewarded resilient climbers and complete riders, becoming one of the most prestigious appointments on the WorldTour calendar. It features iconic climbs such as the Côte de La Redoute, often decisive, and champions like Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Alejandro Valverde have written memorable pages of this race, contributing to building its legend. Now there is Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian phenomenon who has conquered it three times since 2021 (also his in 2024 and 2025): the first with a five-way sprint, the second and third with a decisive attack on the Redoute 35 km from the finish, once again demonstrating his superiority on rolling and selective terrain. Now the 2026 Liège is shaping up as a generational challenge: on one side the solidity and talent of Pogacar, on the other the desire for revenge of Evenepoel and the rise of new protagonists like Seixas.

The Liège-Bastogne-Liège route confirms itself again this year as suitable for climbers. Faithful to tradition, riders will depart from Place Saint-Lambert in Liège and after 259 kilometers will return to the city symbol of Wallonia with 11 climbs that make it the hardest classic on the calendar. The first hundred kilometers heading south, towards Bastogne, are ideal for breakaways, at km 83 there is the first climb, the Côte de Saint-Roch, just before reaching Bastogne, and at km 132 the second, Col de Haussire (where there is the stele dedicated to Claudy Criquielion).

The hottest phase begins just under 80 kilometers from the finish with three well-known and closely spaced climbs. The Côte de Wanne (km 171), the Côte de Stockeu (km 177) – which we know better thanks to the statue of Eddy Merckx – and the Côte de la Haute-Levée (km 181) are even closer together than in previous years, within just ten kilometers of each other. After an intermediate rolling section, comes the Col du Rosier (km 196), the new Col du Maquis (km 208) and the Côte de Desniée (km 212), less than 20 kilometers apart from one another. After the latter, the group crosses the outbound road towards Bastogne and if a rider looked to the right they would already see the famous Côte de la Redoute (km 225). This 1.6 kilometer climb at 9.4% average gradient is more than ever the decisive factor of Liège-Bastogne-Liège: just over 30 km remain to the finish and immediately after another climbing section is tackled, the Côte de Cornemone, which is not considered an official climb but always hurts. Then there are the Côte des Forges (km 236) and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (km 246), the Falcon's Rock whose summit is found 13 kilometers from the finish. Anyone who thinks the climbs are over at that point is mistaken. Because after a brief descent, on asphalt that is at times irregular, riders will find gradients up to 10%. So the final 10 km to arrive on the Quai des Ardennes avenue, where the finish line is.

Since 2021 Liège-Bastogne-Liège has been won by two riders: Pogacar in 2021, 2024 and 2025, Remco Evenepoel in 2022 and 2023. Their duel is the most anticipated. Pogacar remains the main favorite: he has already conquered Milan-San Remo and Tour of Flanders (for the third time) in 2026, demonstrating extraordinary form. The Liège, with its explosive climbs, is ideal terrain for him. Evenepoel arrives with confidence but also with some questions: will he be able to close the gap compared to the Slovenian on the Ardennes? Much will depend on his ability to resist attacks at key moments. And then there is Paul Seixas, in extraordinary form after victories at the Tour of the Basque Country and the Flèche Wallonne. The young Frenchman could be the real revelation and represents the main alternative to the two favorites. Also watch out for riders like Mattias Skjelmose, Benoit Cosnefroy and Tobias Halland Johannessen, all capable of inserting themselves into the fight for the podium.

STARTING LIST

UAE Team Emirates - XRG
1. POGACAR Tadej
2. COSNEFROY Benoit
3. HERREGODTS Rune
4. LAENGEN Vegard Stake
5. NOVAK Domen
6. SIVAKOV Pavel
7. WELLENS Tim

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
11. EVENEPOEL Remco
12. DENZ Nico
13. ETXEBERRIA Haimar
14. FISHER-BLACK Finn
15. HINDLEY Jai
16. MARTINEZ Daniel Felipe
17. TRATNIK Jan

Decathlon CMA CGM Team
21. SEIXAS Paul
22. BISIAUX Leo
23. DEWULF Stan
24. LABROSSE Jordan
25. LAPEIRA Paul
26. L'HOTE Antoine
27. PRODHOMME Nicolas

Lidl - Trek
31. SKJELMOSE Mattias
32. BERNARD Julien
33. CICCONE Giulio
34. KONRAD Patrick
35. MOSCA Jacopo
36. SOBRERO Matteo
37. VERONA Carlos

Team Visma | Lease a Bike
41. TULETT Ben
42. DOULL Owain
43. FIORELLI Filippo
44. HUISING Menno
45. KRUIJSWIJK Steven
46. MATTIO Pietro
47. REX Tim

Team Jayco AlUla
51. SCHMID Mauro
52. COVI Alessandro
53. FOLDAGER Anders
54. HATHERLY Alan
55. HELLEMOSE Asbjorn
56. O'CONNOR Ben
57. VENDRAME Andrea

Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
61. PIDCOCK Tom
62. AZPARREN Xabier Mikel
63. BAX Sjoerd
64. CAMPRUBI Marcel
65. MEURISSE Xandro
66. HARPER Chris
67. HERMANS Quinten

EF Education - EasyPost
71. BAUDIN Alex
72. HONORE Mikkel Frolich
73. LEONARD Michael
74. NERURKAR Lukas
75. SHAW James
76. VAN DER LEE Jardi Christiaan
77. WALKER Max

Cofidis
81. IZAGIRRE Ion
82. JOALLAND Yael
83. MAAS Jan
84. MAISONOBE Sam
85. OURSELIN Paul
86. ROULAND Louis
87. TEUNS Dylan

Bahrain - Victorious
91. BUITRAGO Santiago
92. BILBAO Pello
93. EULALIO Afonso
94. MIHOLJEVIC Fran
95. MIQUEL Pau
96. PAASSCHENS Mathijs
97. TIBERI Antonio

Groupama - FDJ United
101. GREGOIRE Romain
102. COSTIOU Ewen
103. GENIETS Kevin
104. MARTIN Guillaume
105. MOLARD Rudy
106. PACHER Quentin
107. PALENI Enzo

INEOS Grenadiers
111. VAUQUELIN Kevin
112. BERNAL Egan
113. DE PLUS Laurens
114. HAIG Jack
115. JUNGELS Bob
116. LAURANCE Axel
117. RIVERA Brandon Smith

XDS Astana Team
121. CHAMPOUSSIN Clement
122. CONCI Nicola
123. KUZMIN Anton
124. SCARONI Christian
125. TONEATTI Davide
126. ULISSI Diego
127. VELASCO Simone

Uno-X Mobility
131. JOHANNESSEN Tobias Halland
132. CHARMIG Anthon
133. CORT Magnus
134. JOHANNESSEN Anders Halland
135. KAMP Alexander
136. KRON Andreas
137. LEKNESSUND Andreas

Movistar Team
141. UIJTDEBROEKS Cian
142. ADRIA Roger
143. FORMOLO Davide
144. GARCIA PIERNA Raul
145. NOVAK Pavel
146. ROMEO Ivan
147. TESFATSION Natnael

Tudor Pro Cycling Team
151. BRENNER Marco
152. DONZE Robin
153. SUTER Joel
154. THALMANN Roland
155. WARBASSE Larry
156. WEISS Fabian
157. WILKSCH Hannes

Soudal Quick-Step
161. SCHACHMANN Maximilian
162. CRAS Steff
163. EENKHOORN Pascal
164. VAN BAARLE Dylan
165. VANSEVENANT Mauri
166. VERVAEKE Louis
167. ZANA Filippo

NSN Cycling Team
171. BENNETT George
172. FRIGO Marco
173. GILMORE Brady
174. MARTI Pau
175. NEILANDS Krists
176. PINARELLO Alessandro
177. SCHULTZ Nick

Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
181. BARCELO Fernando
182. BOU Joan
183. LOPEZ Joseba
184. MOLENAAR Alex
185. NICOLAU Joel
186. OTRUBA Jakub
187. PRADES Eduard

Lotto Intermarché
191. VAN EETVELT Lennert
192. ORINS Robin
193. ROTA Lorenzo
194. THOMPSON Reuben
195. VAN BOVEN Luca
196. VEISTROFFER Baptiste
197. ZIMMERMANN Georg

Team Picnic PostNL
201. VAN DEN BROEK Frank
202. DINHAM Matthew
203. KOERDT Bjorn
204. FAURE PROST Alexy
205. HAMILTON Chris
206. KNOX James
207. LEEMREIZE Gijs

Alpecin-Premier Tech
211. VERSTRYNGE Emiel
212. BAYER Tobias
213. BUSATTO Francesco
214. DEBRUYNE Ramses
215. DOCKX Aaron
216. GLIVAR Gal
217. HOULE Hugo

TotalEnergies
221. DELETTRE Alexandre
222. BURGAUDEAU Mathieu
223. DELBOVE Joris
224. GUERNALEC Thibault
225. JOUSSEAUME Alan
226. LE BERRE Mathis
227. VERCHER Matteo

Equipo Kern Pharma
231. WENZEL Mats
232. CARRASCOSA Pablo
233. ELOSEGUI Inigo
234. IRIBAR Unai
235. PEREZ Cesar
236. RETEGI Mikel
237. URIARTE Diego

Burgos Burpellet BH
241. HERRADA Jesus
242. ALLENO Clement
243. BURNETT Josh
244. FAGUNDEZ Eric Antonio
245. QUARTUCCI Lorenzo
246. REY Martin
247. SAINBAYAR Jambaljamts