{"id":623043,"date":"2026-04-23T10:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/623043\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T10:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:12:24","slug":"liege-bastogne-liege-2026-preview-pogacar-evenepoel-seixas-or-pidcock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/623043\/","title":{"rendered":"Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge 2026 Preview | Poga\u010dar, Evenepoel, Seixas or Pidcock?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blink at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in late February and before you know it, we’re already at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge<\/a>. The final race of the unofficial 2026 spring cycling season. And it’s one with plenty to talk about beforehand, as this IDL Pro Cycling preview shows. Strap yourself in!The two young men who have shared the last five editions between them, Tadej Poga\u010dar and Remco Evenepoel<\/a>, will line up to do battle A direct duel between the two has been rare. Last season Evenepoel could not follow Poga\u010dar, 2026 is not 2025. In the Belgian Ardennes on Sunday, we may yet be treated to a real spectacle. Throw young French hopeful Paul Seixas<\/a> into the mix, fresh from dominating La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, plus a string of outsiders, and you have a recipe for a great race.Recent winners Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge2025 Tadej Pogacar<\/a>
2024 Tadej Pogacar
2023 Remco Evenepoel
2022 Remco Evenepoel
2021 Tadej Pogacar
2020 Primoz Roglic
2019 Jakob Fuglsang
2018 Bob Jungels
2017 Alejandro Valverde
2016 Wout Poels<\/p>\n

\u00a0Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge 2026: Route, weather and times\"luik-2026-2\"\/The route of La Doyenne<\/a> has changed little, though this year it is almost ten kilometres longer: 259 kilometres in total. The riders depart from Place Saint-Lambert \u2014 where the team presentation will also be held on Saturday \u2014 at 10 a.m., heading into the province of Luxembourg.<\/p>\n

From there the route moves smoothly onto the more familiar stretches we have come to know from previous editions, with the steep C\u00f4te de Saint-Roch (1.0 km at 11.2%) sitting in something of a no man’s land. The biggest change in the first half is the addition of the Col de Haussire after 119 kilometres \u2014 at 3.9 km at 7.2%, that is already a significant effort.<\/p>\n

From around 95 kilometres to go, the real action begins. Nine steep climbs will follow one another in quick succession, giving the finale of this Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge real bite.<\/p>\n

After passing through Vielsalm, the riders face the C\u00f4te de Wanne (3.6 km at 5.1%), the Col de Stockeu (1.0 km at 12.5%) and the C\u00f4te de la Haute-Lev\u00e9e (2.2 km at 7.5%) in succession. The Stockeu in particular, with its severe gradients, can do real damage.<\/p>\n

Fireworks on a familiar ending<\/p>\n

Via the longest climb of the lot \u2014 the Col du Rosier (4.4 km at 5.9%) \u2014 and after passing Spa, the race heads to the C\u00f4te de Desni\u00e9 (1.6 km at 8.1%). In between comes the Col du Maquisard (2.5 km at 5.3%), the only new addition compared to last year.<\/p>\n

That addition matters too, because after the Desnie and a treacherous descent, the route arrives at the well-known C\u00f4te de la Redoute (1.6 km at 9.4%). If the race hasn’t exploded by now, it almost certainly will here.<\/p>\n

What remains? First the Col des Forges (1.3 km at 7.8%), and more importantly the C\u00f4te de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.3 km at 11.0%), approximately thirteen kilometres from the finish. This is the climb \u2014 combined with the nasty drag that follows \u2014 where the decisive move is most likely to be made.<\/p>\n

Heading back into Li\u00e8ge there is still some climbing to be done, but the final eight kilometres are largely downhill. The wind can play a role there, even for chasing groups.<\/p>\n

\"luik-finale-2\"\/<\/p>\n

Weather
The weather has been fine in the Low Countries in recent days, and Sunday will be no different. It may be fresh at the start in Li\u00e8ge, but by the time the riders return in the afternoon, the temperature will be 18\u00b0C, with a light northerly breeze and the possibility of some sunshine breaking through.<\/p>\n

Times<\/p>\n

Start: 9:55 a.m.<\/p>\n

Finish: approximately 4:20 p.m.<\/p>\n

Favorites Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge 2026Tadej Poga\u010dar, Paul Seixas<\/a> and Remco Evenepoel. Those are the big favourites for Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge \u2014 cycling’s great Ardennes appointment. Each has taken a different path to get here. Poga\u010dar has not raced in the hills yet this spring, while Seixas and Evenepoel respectively rode and won the Fl\u00e8che Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race.<\/p>\n

For Sunday, the bookmakers will still lean most heavily on Tadej Poga\u010dar. The Slovenian is virtually unbeatable when the road goes up. He begins a new block of racing here after two weeks of rest, a block that also includes the Tour de Romandie, which starts the following Tuesday.<\/p>\n

If we use the races of late 2025 as a benchmark, two-time winner Evenepoel<\/a> comes closest to matching Poga\u010dar’s level in a race like Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge. Though Seixas has shown in recent weeks that at 19 years old he has taken a genuine step forward over the winter.\"seixas-schmid-tulett\"\/We should look beyond those three, however. What about Tom Pidcock, who rides for Pinarello-Q36.5 and was able to follow Poga\u010dar at Milan-Sanremo. He is currently sharpening up for the Monument, and winning<\/a>, at the Tour of the Alps, though he remains something of an unknown quantity.Or consider Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek, who gave Evenepoel a real fight on Sunday at Amstel<\/a> and also climbed very strongly at Huy. His team will also field Giulio Ciccone, who finished second in Li\u00e8ge last year, before he turns his focus to the Giro d’Italia.\"Mattias<\/p>\n

The French contingent behind Seixas is well represented too: Romain Gr\u00e9goire (Groupama-FDJ), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), K\u00e9vin Vauquelin (INEOS Grenadiers), Poga\u010dar’s UAE teammate Beno\u00eet Cosnefroy, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) and Cl\u00e9ment Champoussin of XDS-Astana are all in the mix.<\/p>\n

Other riders who have already shown good form are Fl\u00e8che Wallonne podium finishers Mauro Schmid<\/a> (Jayco AlUla) and Ben Tulett<\/a> of Visma | Lease a Bike. And based on consistent or potential form, Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana), Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X), Marco Frigo, Alessandro Pinarello (NSN) and\/or Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9) could also spring a surprise.IDL Po Cycling Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge 2026 top picks:Top favorites: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM)<\/p>\n

Outsiders: Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Romain Gr\u00e9goire (Groupama-FDJ)<\/p>\n

Longshots: Tom Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), K\u00e9vin Vauquelin (INEOS Grenadiers) and Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost)<\/p>\n

How to watch Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge 2026 on TV?<\/p>\n

Below you can find where to watch La Doyenne in English by country:<\/p>\n

United Kingdom – HBO Max now carries all of the UK cycling coverage. USA – You will need a subscription to Peacock to watch the racing in the USA.Canada – FloBikes carries the stream for Canadian fans. Again you will need a subscriptionAustralia -Australian fans can watch both the men’s and women’s races for free on\u00a0SBS on DemandIn Europe, viewers can catch all the action on Eurosport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blink at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in late February and before you know it, we’re already at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,233446,141519,21615,5901,82,1422],"class_list":{"0":"post-623043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-liege-bastogne-liege","12":"tag-paul-seixas","13":"tag-previews","14":"tag-remco-evenepoel","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-tadej-pogacar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}