INFO WITH ONE DAY TO GO

April 25 ^th 2026 - 18:08

Key points:

. Is the 112th Liège-Bastogne-Liège going to be decided at La Redoute, like the previous four editions of this race? That’s what the sports director of the event, Jean-Michel Monin, believes. Remco Evenepoel anticipates a great battle, and believes some small tweaks in the course can make the peloton “reach La Redoute with more fatigue.”

. The winner of the last two editions of La Doyenne, Tadej Pogacar, is the great favorite for victory. The world champion is wary, though, of the many challengers he will have: “Paul Seixas has shown he is in magnificent form. We also know this is one of the races that better suits Remco Evenepoel. But we need to take care of many other riders.”

. “​​I never race for second,” asserts Paul Seixas, fresh off winning La Flèche Wallonne. The French sensation aims to leave his mark in this Monument. Beyond the three marquee contenders, the list of outsiders is long, featuring Tom Pidcock, Giulio Ciccone or Mauro Schmid, a podium finisher in Huy who announces he may “take some risks” in Liège.

THE DUEL WE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR … AND A THIRD HAT IN THE RING

The sun that greeted the riders in Saturday’s team presentation at Liège’s Place Saint Lambert will also meet them on Sunday during the 112th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. As bright as the sun are the three stars that outshine the rest of the field, with the winners of the last five editions of the race Tadej Pogacar (2021, 2024, 2025) and Remco Evenepoel (2022, 2023) being joined in the shortlist of candidates for victory by French hope Paul Seixas, who conquered La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. “Those are the three names that stand out,” confirms the sports director of the race, Jean-Michel Monin. “It will be the first time when Pogacar and Evenepoel will face each other at La Doyenne in their best shape, since back in 2023 Tadej crashed out before the key moments of the race and last year Remco was coming out from injury.” And then there is Seixas. “He has already mastered the Mur de Huy, which can be more complex than a hard, long course like Liège. The distance, the positioning, the lack of experience - all those challenges, he can overcome.”

As for the course itself, the main change is the exclusion of the Côte de Mont-le-Soie (which used to feature around 100 kilometres from the finish) in favor of the Col du Maquisard (km 208,7), absent for five editions and placed right before the Côte de Desnié (km 212,8) and the renowned Côte de la Redoute (km 225,5) that both Evenepoel and Pogacar used a springboard for their winning moves all last four years. “Linking up these three climbs will make the approach to La Redoute a bit less nervous,” says Monin. “I think the race will start heating up from Stockeu (km 177,7) and Haute-Levée (km 181,9), but it won’t explode until La Redoute. That’s the best climb for the favorites to go clear and create a gap. Tactics-wise, waiting for La Roche aux Faucons is a bit too risky for them…”

TADEJ POGACAR: “THIS ISN’T A TWO- OR THREE-MAN RACE”

After an amazing streak that saw him claim both the world and the European championships and winning four straight Monuments, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) met his first defeat in seven months in Paris-Roubaix (2nd, behind Wout van Aert). He still is the biggest favorite for this Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in which he could well become the first rider in the 21st century to claim three straight victories in La Doyenne. Both his two previous wins were sealed with an attack at La Redoute, while he achieved his first one back in 2021 from a sprint in a five-man group that went clear in La Roche aux Faucons. “We are yet to discuss the tactics for the race, but anyway there is not too much to talk about. It’s a long and tiring race, and you need to have good legs and a good team.” The Slovenian champion hasn’t lost too much sleep with the new approach to La Redoute. “It’s not a big difference. The race was already hard last year, and it’s gonna be the same.” In any case, he expects many riders to try and unseat him on Sunday. “Paul Seixas has shown he is in magnificent form. We also know this is one of the races that better suits Remco Evenepoel. But this isn’t a two- or three-man race. We need to take care of many other riders.”

REMCO EVENEPOEL: “WE WILL REACH LA REDOUTE WITH MORE FATIGUE IN OUR LEGS”

A double winner of this race, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) delivered a disappointing performance last year (55th) when he came to La Doyenne after overcoming the injuries sustained following a hard crash during a pre-season training ride. “I hope I can be up there deeper into the race this year,” he hints with a smile. The Belgian star believes the course is significantly harder in 2026, given the inclusion of the Col du Maquisard. “We will have to be smart on the way back from Bastogne, because there will be headwinds and we can burn too many matches if we hit the front too early. Being well-positioned ahead of Maquisard will be key. Compared to previous years, I think we will reach La Redoute with more fatigue in our legs, because those 10 to 15 minutes on which we climb and descend Maquisard and Desnié are going to require some punchy efforts and mean an extra load of elevation gain ahead of La Redoute.” The double Olympic champion singles out Tadej Pogacar as the main favorite, yet is not shy of confirming he targets victory after claiming the Amstel Gold Race last Sunday by defeating Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose in a two-up sprint. “This time, I’d rather make it to the finish alone even if I’m confident in my sprint after a six-hour race. I know this course and I’m in good shape…”

PAUL SEIXAS: “WE CAN’T RULE OUT ANY SCENARIO”

Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM) is already acquainted with the many challenges of this course, as he already won the junior version of Liège-Bastogne-Liège back in 2024. The 19-year-old Frenchman just became the youngest victor at La Flèche Wallonne - a triumphant pro debut in the Ardennes classics. “I take some confidence from it, but Liège will be a completely different race against a completely different field,” says Seixas. The mere presence of Tadej Pogacar, who defeated him at Strade Bianche in March, changes everything. “He is a dominating rider in this type of course, so we will keep an eye on him. We can’t rule out any scenario, as many things can happen over nearly 260 kilometres. I’m not one to kneel down before anybody at the start of any race. I never race for second. Tadej is very strong, and we will give him a run for his money.” Seixas also means to enjoy the battle with a rider he describes as “maybe the greatest of all time. It’s an honor to race against him. This experience will enable me to push my limits, and see what I need to work on. I’m looking forward to racing against him, as it always is a good experience.”

TOM PIDCOCK SEEKING GREAT BRITAIN’S FIRST WIN IN LA DOYENNE

No British rider has ever conquered the men’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Just three male cyclists from the United Kingdom have stood on the podium of La Doyenne: Barry Hoban (3rd, 1969), Robert Millar (3rd, 1988) ... and Tom Pidcock (2nd, 2023), who comes to this year’s race slightly off his best shape after crashing out of the Volta a Catalunya one month ago. “There is no chance I will be in the same shape I was in Catalonia,” the Pinarello-Q36.5 leader asserts, despite having won a stage in the Tour of the Alps just this week. “I think it's already positive that I'm at the start line here. Getting back into racing after so much time off the bike has been tough, but I’ve been getting better every day so I can be fairly optimistic. Liège-Bastogne-Liège is my last big goal in the first part of the season, and afterwards I’ll take some time off and reset before focusing on my preparation for the Tour de France.” Another option for Great Britain to finally win La Doyenne is Ben Tulett, who on Wednesday was up to the task of replacing Matteo Jorgenson as Visma-Lease a Bike’s spearhead and landed a podium result in La Flèche Wallonne. “It was a really big step in my career. We knew that result was possible, but doing it is different to just believing in it. Now we can expect Liège to be an incredibly hard race, but we are up for it and looking forward to getting involved.”

A NUMBER OF OUTSIDERS HOPING FOR A PODIUM RESULT

Every rider in the field who isn’t one of the three musketeers is quite cautious when assessing his possibilities ahead of this Liège-Bastogne-Liège. “Pogacar, Seixas and Evenepoel all perform at a whole different level,” summarizes the shared sentiment Ineos Grenadiers’ Egan Bernal, who comes to La Doyenne as part of his preparation for the Giro d’Italia and after missing most of his racing schedule in the wake of the season because of knee pain. “Anyway, once we pin a number on our backs, we try our best to win.” The same feeling is echoed by Mattias Skjelmose, who intends to get off his mouth the bittersweet taste left by La Flèche Wallonne (5th). “We messed up the positioning ahead of the Mur de Huy. I’m excited and motivated about Liège, though.” By his side in the Lidl-Trek squad, he will have the runner-up of last year’s Doyenne, Giulio Ciccone. “I believe we have what is needed to do well in this race,” continues the Danish rider. “Victory is going to be super difficult to achieve, but having two riders of our level can make a difference in the fight for the podium.” A happy man in Huy was Jayco-AlUla’s Mauro Schmid, who finished 2nd and scored what arguably is the best result of his career to date. “I’m super happy with my classics campaign so far. Liège feels like a bonus, so I may take some risks.” Other contenders for podium can well be Ineos’ Kévin Vauquelin, Groupama-FDJ’s Romain Grégoire or Santiago Buitrago (3rd in 2023), sole leader of the Bahrain Victorious team after Lenny Martinez pulled out from the race in the last minute.