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63km to go
UAE are riding on the front for Tadej Pogačar, with Pavel Sivakov, Domen Novak and Benoît Cosnefroy doing the grunt work.
That show the natural hierarchy in the race and the sport.
This is the quiet before the storm. We’re nervously waiting to see where Tadej Pogacar attacks and if Paul Seixas and Remco Evenepoel can go with him or even chase him down.
A tight right turn onto the Col du Rosier confirms that positioning is vital in Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
We’re inside the final 74km at #LBL and the peloton are now all back together. It’s still all to play for with some punchy climbs to come! pic.twitter.com/FqWtk7b0UbApril 26, 2026
It’s the right time to feed as the Col du Rosier soon begins. It is 4.5km long and climbs at 5.9%.
The UAE riders grab musettes at a feed zone to take a bidon and gels.
With fewer teammates than expected, due to the attacks and the chase, UAE are riding at a steady pace, protecting Pogacar.
There are cobbles and huge crowds as the rider near the Côte de la Haute-Levée. It is 2.2km at an average of 7.5%. It will hurt.
The race close-up.
Pas de stress dans le peloton #LBL pic.twitter.com/haVARakmipApril 26, 2026
UAE are leading the peloton, with Pogacar sitting on their wheels.
There are now seven categorised and leg-hurting climbs in the next 80km.
82km to go
Next up is the Côte de Stockeu climb, that remember’s Eddy Merckx’s success in the race.
After a crazy four hoiurs, it’s gruppo compatto. So what happens now?
We can only expect Pogacar to attack hard on the Côte de la Redoute, if not earlier.
UAE are flexing their muscles on the climb, squeezing the break’s lead and frightening their rivals. like a snake.
Pidcock’s problems means he never caught the peloton and is now chasing at 1:20.
UAE also have Benoît Cosnefroy and Domen Novak as Wellens is dropped.
The five attacker hit the Côte de Wanne, with a 40 second lead on the peloton.
95km to go
It will also be interesting to see what imnpact being in the attack has on Evenepoel? How much did it cost him?
We’ll find out in the next two hours and the final 90km of racing.
The Pogacar peloton could soon catch the Evenepoel group.
Van Baarle, Eenkhoorn, Neilands, Veistroffer and Costiou attacked the attack and that caused the others to lose pace and so help the peloton reduce the gap.
Up front there are 40 riders left in the break.
Tim Wellens is still leading the chase and he will be grateful to have help from a Decathlon rider.
110km to go
The riders are heading east now, the Côte de Wanne comes in 22km and will be decisive for the race.
Tom Pidcock needs mechanical help and is forced to chase back to the peloton.
Today is one photograph.
Interestingly, the work by Wellens has reduced the peloton to just 50 riders or so.
The riders pass through a feed zone and so the pace in the attack eases, as riders also attack each other.
It’s perhaps advantage Pogacar now.
For now, Evenepoel is playing it cool, sitting on the wheels and letting his tactical advantage take its course.
Evenepoel drops back to his team car for bidons and a tactical talk. He will hope Nico Denz gets back on and so can help drive the attack, at least until the climbs start in earnest in 30km or so.
The Col de Haussire is causing some riders to be spat out of the attack.
The race hits the Col de Haussire climb, that remembers local legend Claudy Criquielion with a monument. It is 3.9km long at 6.8% and so is hurting riders who have done a lot fo work.
Up front Nico Denz is also suffering after all his hard work on the front.
Evenepoel made some predictions about Liege-Bastogne-Liege but he surely never expected to be up the road in a 50-rider break.
Nico Denz is doing big licks on the front of the attack. He is helping to keep the gap at 2:40.
135km to go
The riders will soon descend to the Côte de Stockeu climb, the site of the Eddy Merckx monument.
It is part of a long ride upwards before the start of the true final of the race with the Côte de Wanne, with 88km to race.
This 50-rider attack was not expected but the final climbs are still expected to shape the race.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026 – the ultimate guide to La Doyenne
A sign that the race is on and the chase is underway: the peloton is lined out.
Behind Rune Herregodts and Vegard Stake Laengen are leading the chase for UAE, with Stan Dewolf riding for Decathlon.
The attackers arguably have more riders willing to work and drive the move along.
The gap is still 2:30.
There’s an update on exactly who is in the attack. UAE have left Domen Novak in the attack.
As the riders reach Bastogne after 96km, we get a better understanding of who is doing the work on the front of the attack, to keep the Pogacar peloton at over 3:00.
We can see Red Bull’s Nico Denz and Ineos’ Laurens de Plus, teammates of Remco Evenepoel and Egan Bernal doing the work. Soudal’s Pascal Eenkhoorn is also contributing to the work.
Behind UAE and Decathlon are forced to use up teammates to make the chase.
Two hours of racing done and two hours of racing at 45km/h!
The attacks mean the gap to the peloton at the top of the Côte de Saint-Roch is up to 4:00.
Kamp, Leknessund and Sainbayar again try to escape from the front group but are chased down.
As the attackers hit the first categorised of the race, the Côte de Saint-Roch after 83km, the gap to the Pogacar peloton is still 3:35.
180km to go
Evenepoel has Nico Denz, who will surely ride for him. Alan Hatherly has Jayco teammate Asbjørn Hellemose, while Picnic have 5 riders.
Egan Bernal can count on support from Laurens De Plus, while other storong riders in the move include Dario Frigo (NSN) and Diego Ulissi (XDS).
Every team has two, three or even four riders, so will surely ride to make sure the attack goes as far as possible.
With so many team represented in the attack, it means only UAE and Decathlon will ride in the peloton.
It will be a pursuit match all the way to Liege, with Evenepoel and Bernal having a 3:30 advantage on Pogacar, Seixas.
That is the state of play.
The 50 attackers are enjoying a tailwind as they continue to ride south to Bastogne. They will soon face a headwind and cross headwind when they turn north. They will have some protection in the Ardennes forests but the climbs are often exposed.
Evenepoel is in the 50-rider attack but is not working on the front, letting the move take him clear of his big rivals.
After 50km of fast racing, the gap is up to 3:40 and seems to be still rising.
Remco was smiling before the start. We can only wonder what he is thinking now.
We’d love to be inside the UAE team car right now to understand what tactical strategy they are trying to follow.
The gap between the Evenepoel attack and the Pogacar peloton is up to 3:40! UAE appear to have made a tactical decision not to chase too hard.
UAE have called back Domen Novak from the front group, as the gap reaches 3:20.
It’s going to be a fascinating race.
The race is still heading south towards Bastogne and the gap is still growing. The Evenepoel group leads the Pogačar-Seixas peloton by 2:40.
Racing is about watts, power and talent but is always about tactics too.
It is full gas racing so far.
With 173 starters, that means there are 199 rider in the peloton.
Whatever happens, we have rarely seen such a big group go clear in Liege-Basotgne-Liege. This could be a special, historic day of racing.
These are the 54 riders in the front group. There are some interesting names in there, including Evenepoel and Bernal but can they stay away?
Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Remco Evenepoel, Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Julien Bernard, Jacopo Mosca, Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), Menno Huising (Visma-Lease a Bike), Alan Hatherly, Asbjorn Hellemose (Jayco-AlUla), Sjoerd Bax, Xandro Meurisse (Pinarello-Q36.5), Michael Leonard, Jardi Van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Sam Maisonobe, Paul Ourselin (Cofidis), Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious), Ewen Costiou, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) Egan Bernal, Laurens de Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), Nicola Conci, Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana), Magnus Cort, Alexander Kamp, Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X), Davide Formolo, Pavel Novak (Movistar Team), Roland Thalmann, Fabian Weiss (Tudor Pro Cycling), Pascal Eenkhoorn, Louis Vervaeke, Dylan Van Baarle (Soudal-Quick Step), Marco Frigo, Krists Neilands (NSN), Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Frank Van der Broek, Matthew Dinham, Gijs Leemreize, Bjorn Koerdt (Picnic-PostNL), Aaron Dockx, Gal Glivar, Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Thibaut Guernalec, Alan Jousseaume, Mathis Le Berre (TotalEnergies), Iñigo Elosegui, César Pérez, Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma), Jesús Herrada , Clément Alleno, Josh Burnett, Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Burgos Burpellet BH).
This is the front group. We can see that some teams are working hard to make it difficult for the chasing Pogacar peloton.
There are 48 riders in the front group and their lead on the Pogacar peloton is up to 1:50!
The peloton is still split, with Tadej Pogačar in group 2 and his UAE leading the chase as the attacks come off the front of group 1.
💨 C’est parti vite ! Le peloton est scindé en deux et Tadej Pogacar n’est pas dans la première partie. Les deux groupes sont séparés par 25”. A very fast start! The peloton has split in two and Tadej Pogacar is not in the front group. Gap: 25 seconds 🔥#LBL pic.twitter.com/SAGKAXEf64April 26, 2026
240km to go
The Tadej Pogačar peloton is still 30 seconds down on the Evenepoel split. Other riders are even further behind.
This is the view from the race director’s car sat behind the peloton, captured by Radio Tour announcer Seb Piquet.
Tadej Pogačar is sat near the back.
And we are off for the 112th edition @LiegeBastogneL !@TamauPogi taking it easy. pic.twitter.com/lBUJht07ARApril 26, 2026
There are also attacks off the front to try to join the early breakaway. There is no such thing as an easy start to a modern-day Monument.
With Liege in the valley, the climb up to Beaufays has sparked the intense start to the day.
UAE have Tim Wellens and Vegard Stake Laengen in the front group but they have been told to sit on as the peloton tries to close the gap.
Big-name riders in the front group include Remco Evenepoel and Egan Bernal.
Tadej Pogačar was at the back of the peloton for the roll out and so might be in the second group. That could explain the split and the growing gap.
Race on!
The front group is pushing on, the gap is up to 35 seconds.
The crash has raised the tension in the early kilometres, with 60 riders off the front and the others chasing at 20 seconds. It’s going to be a long, hard day for every rider.
When the race directors flag is dropped there are attacks! There’s also an early crash, involving Ion Izagirre (Cofidis).
173 riders in the race today. James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost) and Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) didnot sign on and so didn’t start.
🚩 Le départ est donné pour cette 112ème édition de #LBL ! 🚩 The start has been given for this 112th edition of #LBL! pic.twitter.com/RSNE4yj6M4April 26, 2026
The riders face a 96km ride south to Bastogne and then return north to Liege by a longer, hillier route.
All eyes are on this man today.
3-2-1 C’est Parti! They’re off!
The riders face 259.5km of racing today, with a short ride out of the city centre before the flag drops.
One minute to the start!
The riders are now on the start line, with Evenepoel, Belgian national champion Tim Wellens, Tadej Pogačar on the front of the grid.
Tadej Pogačar and his UAE team are the last to sign on. The Slovenian races in the rainbow jersey as world champion and with race number 1 as the 2025 winner.
Evenepoel spoke about the race and his rivals on Friday after his final recon ride on the route.
Remco Evenepoel is next to sign on with his Red Bull teammates. He is, of course, a two-time winner, in 2022 and 2023.
“We’ll give the maximum to try to win. The final is so long and so hard, that whoever wins is the strongest in the race.”
The race announcer lists Paul Seixas’ results and he waves to the crowd with a smile. He is only 19 but has a poise and maturity beyond his years.
“It’s true I won the Junior Liege-Bastogne-Liege, so I’ve done it once, but that race ended on La Redoute climb, so its a different race.
“We’ll see how it goes. If I can stay with Pogacar, it will already be a success.”
Get ready to hear the crowd cheer. Paul Seixas and his Decathlon CMA CGM are about to sign on.
Visma are the next team to sign on. They lost Matteo Jorgenson after his crash at last week’s Amstel Gold Race but still have a solid team. Ben Tullett was strong at La Fleche Wallonne and could be part of the race today.
Tom Pidcock signs on as leader of Pinarello-Q36.5. He has played down his chances after his crash and knee injury but impressed at the Tour of the Alps.
To understand the big favourites and the outsiders, read our analysis of the contenders.
The big four and the rest – Analysing the contenders at the men’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Ben O’Conor signs on with his Jayco AlUla teammates. The Australia ids one of several riders to travel to Belgium after riding the Tour of the Alps during the week.
The best WorldTour teams and several wild card teams are in the peloton but the expected narrative is all about a three-rider clash: Tadej Pogačar versus Remco Evenepoel versus Paul Siexas.
Kévin Vauquelin of Ineos has just signed on, with the race organisers playing a happy boirhtdat tune for his 25th birthday. The French rider faces a birthday of suffering but could be a contender today.
This is the 112th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, making it the oldest Classic on the calendar.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège closes out the Ardennes Classics week with a tough race over 250km, 10 classified climbs and many, many others in the rolling hills of south-eastern Belgium.
The climbs of the Saint-Roch, Wanne, Stockeu, La Redoute, and Roche-aux-Faucons are among those which pepper the route, making the race the toughest of Ardennes week and perhaps the whole season.
The riders are currently signing on in the centre of Liege before the start. The sun is out, everyone is ready to race hard in what should be a spectacular race.
Hello, Bonjour and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of the 2026 men’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Check back all day to understands what happens in the final Classic of the spring.
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