Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026: The most important facts in brief
- Date: 26 April 2026, estimated arrival time: ~ 16:20 hrs
- Distance: 259.5 kilometres; Altitude metres: 4395
- Start: Liège; Target: Liège
- UCI category: WorldTour
- Organiser: A.S.O.
- Premiere: 1892, 112th edition
- Last year's winner: Tadej Pogačar
- Record winner: Eddy Merckx (five times)
Liège-Bastogne-Liège has been held since 1892 and is not called "La Doyenne", the oldest, for nothing. The legendary one-day race through the Belgian Ardennes is one of the five monuments of cycling thanks to its long history, its equally long distance and its challenging profile. After the Amstel Gold Race and the Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the crowning glory of the Ardennes classics. The reputation of the race is as rich in tradition as it is feared: A demanding, constantly undulating course repeatedly forces the riders over short, steep climbs that run through the landscape like pinpricks and force the really big decisions at the end.
Over 250 kilometres and more than 4000 metres in altitude make this race a real endurance test in which it is not only the legs that count, but also tactics, timing and the ability to suffer. The record winner is Eddy Merckxwho triumphed five times between 1969 and 1975. There are also German names on the list of winners: Hermann Buse won in 1930, Dietrich Thurau followed in 1979 - victories that show how deeply anchored this race is in cycling memory.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026: The route
At 259.5 kilometres, Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026 is seven kilometres longer than last year, returning to the distance from 2024. The cumulative vertical metres have also increased again compared to last year. This is mainly due to the additional climb, Col du Maquisard, which was added before the final stitches. The decisive passages are also back on the programme in 2026 and are likely to provide the necessary selection with high single-digit to double-digit percentages. Côte de Desnié, Côte de la Redoute, Côte des Forges and the final climb, Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, are particularly noteworthy.
The favourites
Who should be at the top of this list if not Pogačar? Even after the setback at Paris-Roubaix, where the Slovenian lost to Wout van Aert in the final sprint, he is the clear top favourite for Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He won the last two editions of the race and has won a total of three times in 2021. Almost 4400 metres of climbing is a real challenge, and it will be difficult for pure classics specialists to win. Remco Evenepoel also wants to tackle the Monument, having won the classic in 2023 and 2024, but lost significantly last year. The Belgian showed strong form at the Tour of Flanders and the metres in altitude suit him. A duel between Pogačar and Evenepoel is certainly conceivable.
Thomas Pidcock will also try his luck against the high-flyer of cycling once again; he only narrowly lost to Pogačar at Milan-Sanremo. But the young guard will also be making an appearance at the Ardennes Classic. Paul Seixas, currently the biggest talent in cycling, is taking part, as are Kévin Vauquelin, Lenny Martinez and Tobias Halland Johannessen. Romain Grégoire is also among the favourites, as is Matteo Jorgenson. The many metres in altitude only attract overall classification riders, and they have a particularly good chance of winning a classic here. However, this will only go to Tadej Pogačar.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège for men 2026: TV broadcast and live stream
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026 for men is on television at Eurosport 2 to see. The transmission runs from 13:30-16:40. There is also a chargeable Live stream with Discovery Plus and HBOmax. All information about the women's race can be found here.
Leon Weidner
Working student
