Results Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026 | Tadej Pogacar takes win number 4; Paul Seixas impresses but cracks; Evenepoel sprints to third

Tadej Pogacar has won Liège-Bastogne-Liège for the fourth time in his career, and the third consecutive. For the first time since 2021 however, the Slovenian had competition, as Paul Seixas was able to match his initial attack on the Côte de la Redoute. However, the World Champion was the strongest on the day and won his third monument of the season this Sunday.

There was no warm-up into the race, as the 257-kilometer long classic through the Ardennes features action right from the first kilometers. That is because during an attempt to form a breakaway, there was a crash in the peloton which caused a major split. A lot of riders kept the pace high, and as a result around 50 riders moved off the front unchallenged.

Paul Seixas' Decathlon was the only team not represented in front whilst Tadej Pogacar and most of the main favourites were in the second, larger peloton. But in front was none other than Remco Evenepoel, supported by Nico Denz; whilst dozens of other riders were also part of it. But these were mostly outsiders and riders who were looking to form a breakaway.

The massive group caused the speed to be sky-high all day long as UAE and Decathlon have had to chase hard from early on behind, whilst in front the pace was not always consistent. However, the gap grew to as much as 4 minutes, which put even Pogacar in a position of high pressure as in front, the Olympic Champion could not be underestimated.

However as the race progressed the gap began to be cut down, with less riders wanting to work in front; Nico Denz of Red Bull getting dropped; and INEOS Grenadiers doing a big share of the work with only Laurens de Plus. As the gap began to come down, attacks also began in front, trying to form a new breakaway of the day. Eventually, the catch was made with 82 kilometers to go.

From there on UAE Team Emirates - XRG picked up the pace and continued the race as they desired, with a constant high pace which could then favour the World Champion later on. Pavel Sivakov and Domen Novak did the big share of work during this phase, whilst into the Côte de la Redoute, the pace was high but Benoît Cosnefroy quickly came to the front with the World Champion.

The pace was incredibly high, Evenepoel himself was getting dropped whilst only a few riders were left in the wheel of Pogacar, and when he launched an explosive attack, only Paul Seixas could respond. The Frenchman followed Pogacar all the way to the summit, despite repeated standing accelerations on the climb. The incredible climbing feat from the duo saw them open up a gap of 25 seconds to the lone chaser Mattias Skjelmose; whilst the Evenepoel group was around 35 seconds behind.

The duo would work and the race would stabilize. Skjelmose waited for the large chasing group, in which there were plenty attacks over the following hills. However they would cancel each other out. The fight for the podium was truly and well alive.

As the riders entered the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, Pogacar attacked right from the base. The incredibly steep climb saw Seixas answer, but halfway up the ascent the seated pace of the Slovenian saw Seixas crack completely and create the winning gap.

On Roche-aux-Faucons, Skjelmose attacked once again to the chasers, creating a gap over the thinning group of riders. Remco Evenepoel attacked from behind several times eventually closing the gap but bringing the group back together.

Pogacar crossed the finish line solo, winning and paying a tribute to his former teammate Cristian Muñoz who passed away earlier this week. Seixas was second; whilst behind Remco Evenepoel managed to save his race by sprinting to third on the day.