Liège-Bastogne-Liège marks the end of the Ardennes Classics and ties up this spring period in a bow before the Grand Tours come calling. This season, La Doyenne takes place on Sunday 26th April and both men’s and women’s races are set to feature exciting showdowns.
The men’s peloton is led by defending champion Tadej Pogačar, who will be challenged by in-form wonderkid Paul Seixas and former winner Remco Evenepoel, while the woman’s field is likely to see a battle between Demi Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Puck Pieterse.
Men’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège favourites
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
The deserved favourite for every race he enters, Tadej Pogačar has three victories out of four this season in Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders, with his only defeat so far at Paris-Roubaix on a parcours that doesn’t favour him. But when Liège-Bastogne-Liège rolls around, its punchy hills have him head and shoulders above the rest.
The World Champion has won the spring’s final Monument three times so far in 2021, 2024 and 2025. The first came through a small group sprint before his era of long range attacks began with his 2024 and 2025 wins coming through attacks on the Côte de la Redoute. Expect more of the same realistically, but with more competition from these riders…
Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM)
Young French phenom Paul Seixas has been commanding even more attention than Pogačar this season thanks to an incredible string of results including second place at the Volta ao Algarve and Strade Bianche and wins at Itzulia Basque Country and La Flèche Wallonne. This domination has him tipped to contend for the win wherever he lands recently, and this matchup against Pogačar is a tasty showdown.
They previously came up against one another at Strade Bianche, where Seixas briefly held onto Pogačar’s wheel in his initial attack but was unable to match his long acceleration, soon being left behind but still finishing second in Siena only a minute behind.
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
Remco Evenepoel started the season strong with victories in one-day Spanish races and at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana, but suffered at the UAE Tour and could only manage a fifth place at the Volta Ciclista Catalunya.
The Belgian has rediscovered himself lately though, with an impressive third place after a long solo fight in his debut Tour of Flanders and his first victory at Amstel Gold Race in a two-up sprint against last year’s winner Mattias Skjelmose. He generally occupies a rung below Pogačar in these one-day races, meaning a podium is highly likely but the top spot is seen as reserved for UAE Team Emirates XRG’s main man currently. This Liège could result in a battle for second with Seixas, which should be exciting viewing if it comes down to it, with the pair yet to face off in 2026.
Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United)
Another Frenchman on the rise is Groupama-FDJ United’s Romain Grégoire, who saves his best performances for the one-day races. So far this season he’s seen victory at the Faun Drome Classic, second place at Trofeo Laigueglia and fourth places at Strade Bianche, Brabantse Pijl and the Amstel Gold Race, he is finding himself at the pointy end when it matters and his strong punch should see him back in contention this weekend.
Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla)
Mauro Schmid has really stepped things up a level in 2026. Now in his third year at Jayco-AlUla, the Swiss Champion has seen success at both stage races and in the Classics, with victories at the Muscat Classic and Coppi e Bartali before finishing second at La Flèche Wallonne and sixth at Amstel Gold.
Schmid’s second place in Flèche was arguably his standout performance, leading the pack behind Seixas on the Mur de Huy. Another strong display in this Monument would really draw attention in a contract year.
Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5)
Clearly, you can’t keep Tom Pidcock down for long. Despite picking up an extensive injury list after crashing into a ravine at the Volta a Catalunya in March, the Brit returned to racing at the Tour of the Alps this week with the aim to work towards Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Following a close second place on the opening day, he was back to winning ways on Stage 3 with a strong sprint. It might not be the most ideal preparation for a Monument, but he remains one to watch when the flag drops.
Women’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège favourites
Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez)
2026 has been business as usual for Demi Vollering, who enjoyed a smooth transition from winning her first stage race of the season to winning in the one-day Classics with victory at Omloop Niewusblad, the Tour of Flanders and La Flèche Wallonne. There was a slight hiccup at Strade Bianche after a motorbike led her chasing group astray, but her team have taken a massive step forward this year, with Elise Chabbey getting the job done in that racee before Franzi Koch added a win Roubaix and Célia Gery took a breakthrough victory Brabantse Pijl.
Vollering has twice prevailed at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2021 and 2023 in a small group sprint. She’ll be hoping to take a solo victory again this year, like she did in Flanders, having lost two-up sprints to Marlen Reusser and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney at Dwars door Vlaanderen and Amstel Gold respectively, but if it comes down to it, she’ll trust her kick in the biggest moments.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto)
It feels as though Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney is closing the gap to Vollering in the Classics this season. The Polish Champion is yet to win this year but has finished ahead of Vollering twice now, most notably at the Amstel Gold Race in the two-up sprint to decide the last two podium spots.
Perhaps one of her most impressive performances came this week at La Flèche Wallonne though. On the brutal Mur de Huy finale she somehow managed to finish fourth despite being stick in the big ring on the entire climb. Tantalising to think about what could’ve been otherwise.
Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech)
Puck Pieterse is unbelievably consistent in the Classics. After a podium finish at every Ardennes Classic last year, the Dutch multi-discipline star returns to the race she finished second at in 2025 for her last road outing before getting back on the mountain bike. It’s been an impressive season so far for the 23-year-old who raced to sixth at Strade Bianche, fourth at Milan-San Remo, third at the Tour of Flanders and second at La Flèche Wallonne.
It feels like a victory is close.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has been riding like she never left the road since her return at the start of last year, and she’s been a force to be reckoned with this year too, her talents on full display with a second place at the Tour of Flanders and third at Paris-Roubaix despite only signing up to race last minute to work for teammate Marianne Vos.
Despite obvious form, she’s yet to win this season, so she’ll be hoping to end the Classics back on top of the podium before her attention turns to the Grand Tours.
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)
With two wins already in the bag at Nokere Koerse and Milan-San Remo, Lotte Kopecky is one win away from equalling her uncharacteristically small 2025 total. Liège-Bastogne-Liège has historically not been the best Classic for her to shine in though, her best result a fifth in 2025. But count her out at your peril, the Belgian still raced to fourth places at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, and if she’s in the lead group at the finish she’ll be the favourite to get the job done in a sprint.
Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ)
UAE Team ADQ have turned into a superteam this year with Elisa Longo Borghini, Eleonora Gasparrini, Dominika Włodarczyk, Karlijn Swinkels and Maëva Squiban. However 23-year-old Paula Blasi has become the team’s breakthrough star thanks to a resounding victory on debut at Amstel Gold after a late call-up, win a 23km solo win to demonstrate both her climbing and time-trialling talent. Blasi then went on to podium at La Flèche Wallonne too. A third podium in a week could be calling, and she has Swinkels and Squiban to make that a triple-threat to rule out at your peril.
For more on Liège-Bastogne-Liège, read our race preview.