Date: Sunday April 26, 2026
Start: Liège
Finish: Liège
Distance: 260km (men’s), 156km (women’s)
Defending champion: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal Team)
Held annually in late April, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, or La Doyenne, takes place in the Ardennes region of Belgium, starting and finishing in Liège. This race rounds off the Ardennes Classics after the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne.
Since its first edition of the men’s race in 1892, the race has been considered one of the most arduous rides due to the sheer length of the course and what it demands of the riders, with the second half of the route being notoriously hilly. The most iconic climb in the race is the Côte de la Redoute, which is 2km in length with an average gradient of 8.9%, peaking at an eye-watering 20% — and tops out with about 33km left to race.
The weather is often unpredictable at this time of year also, and in the race’s history, it has regularly been severely affected by bad weather conditions – some editions have even featured heavy snowfall. In 1980, the race had particularly bad snow, but this didn't stop Bernard Hinault who attacked with 80km to go and finished nearly 10 minutes ahead of the next rider. But this was also the year that only 21 riders out of the 174 that started made it to the finish line.
Held on the same day as the men's race, Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes first began in 2017 alongside the reboot of the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition. With the introduction of these races, the women's peloton now also has the same trio of Ardennes Classics races as the men, finishing with this iconic Monument. While the women's route is 100km less than the men's, the route is by no means easy and takes in the same brutal climbs, such as the Côte de La Redoute, Côte des Forges and Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons.
The first edition of the women’s race was won by Anna van der Breggen, who went on to defend her title the following year in 2018. Annemiek van Vleuten has also won this race twice in 2019 and again in 2022, as has Demi Vollering who won in 2021 and in 2023.
Belgian riders dominated the men’s race in its early years, but now riders from all over the world have succeeded on these roads. Most recently, Tadej Pogačar (2021, 2024 and 2025) and his compatriot Primož Roglič (2020) took the spoils. However, Pogačar’s forst two victories sandwiched home superstar Remco Evenepoel’s successes in 2022 and 2023.
Only one rider has won this race on five occasions and that was the great Eddy Merckx. He won his first title in 1969, then won in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975. Italian rider Moreno Argentin and Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde were the only riders who came close to joining Merckx with their respective four wins. Two-time winners Pogačar and Evenepoel are set to race again this year and as they have won the last five editions, it is likely that one of them could narrow the gap to the past multiple-time winners of La Doyenne.
Men’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026 route:
The 2025 edition is not much different to the race's previous editions in terms of route, with the peloton starting in the centre of Liège and heading south to Bastogne. The first half of the race is relatively easy for the riders, featuring only the Côte de Saint Roch climb. It is once they have reached Bastogne and begin the pilgrimage back to Liège the route gets taken up a notch.
After 119km of racing, and on the return leg to Liège, the riders have to tackle the Col de Haussire before entering a series of challenging Ardennes hills, starting with the Côte de Mont-le-Soie after 158km. Soon after, they face the Côte de Wanne and then within 12km, the Côte de Stockeu and Côte de Haute-Levée, before the longest climb of the day at 4.4km, the Col du Rosier.
The climbs continue as the peloton gets closer to the finish line, providing plenty of chances for riders to attack and break away if they think they have the legs for it. With just over 34km to go, they are faced with the Côte de Desnié, a 1.6km climb with a leg-burning 9.4% gradient. Then they will need to tackle the Côte de la Redoute and its gruelling 20% max gradient. One more climb under their belt — Côte des Forges — and the riders have a 7km downhill to the foot of their next test.
The last climb of the day is the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons — a brutal 1.3km-long climb with an ascent of 11% — before a short ascent and false flat that leads the riders to the descent into Liège. The last 2km of the race is flat to the finish line.
Women’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026 route:
The women’s route will once again start in Bastogne and make its way north back to Liège, featuring ten of the Ardennes famous climbs. Similar to the men’s route, the second half of the race is where all the action is packed with eight climbs crammed into the last 80km. The first climb, the Côte de Saint-Roch is the only climb in the opening half of the race and comes after 15.8km of racing.
After another 40km it is where the race spices up, as they tackle the Côte de Mont-le-Soie, Côte de Wanne, Côte de Stockeu, Côte de la Haute-Levée, Col du Rosier, Côte de Desnié, Côte de La Redoute, Côte des Forges, and finally Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons. They then have a short descent into Liège, before a flat run-in to the finish line.
