Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026 start lists | The return of the world champion, women's race stacked with stars

The Belgian spring is almost over — but not before one final act. On Sunday, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the last Monument of the spring, takes centre stage. Tadej Pogačar returns to racing after his second-place finish at Paris-Roubaix, with no shortage of rivals ready to take him on. And FDJ-Suez line up as the team to beat in the women's race. Can anyone actually beat them? IDL Pro Cycling takes you through the men's and women's Liège-Bastogne-Liège start lists as they stand now.

Let's start with Pogačar, who lines up for his fifth race of the year. His results so far are almost absurd: victories at Strade Bianche, Milan–Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders, followed by second place behind Wout van Aert at Roubaix. On Sunday, he is hunting a fourth win at La Doyenne.

Paul Seixas is the name most likely to trouble him. The Decathlon CMA CGM youngster arrives in Liège fresh from winning La Flèche Wallonne, and this will be only the second Monument of his elite career. His first was the Tour of Lombardy last year, where he finished seventh.

Remco Evenepoel arrives in good form too. The Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe rider beat Mattias Skjelmose to win the Amstel Gold Race. The Lidl-Trek Dane — second at Amstel and fifth at Flèche Wallonne — is also on the start list and is an outside bet for the podium.

Tom Pidcock of Pinarello-Q36.5 comes in direct from the Tour of the Alps, where he claimed a stage win. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Kévin Vauquelin (INEOS Grenadiers) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) could all make their mark on Sunday. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) are worth watching too, if perhaps with slightly more tempered expectations.

The women's race is equally compelling. Demi Vollering is the name to watch. The FDJ-SUEZ rider has already won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the Tour of Flanders, and Wednesday's Flèche Wallonne this spring. The rivals she beat on the Mur de Huy will line up against her again on Sunday.

Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM), Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), second here last year, and Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) are all confirmed starters. So are Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike), Elise Chabbey, Juliette Berthet (both FDJ-SUEZ), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Liane Lippert (Movistar). The start list is packed. It promises to be a race worth staying up for.

FDJ-Suez have emerged as the team to beat this spring, with a number of their star riders taking victories in different races. Will their strength in depth win out again on Sunday, or will the other teams finally find a way to unpick them? It will be fascinating to find out!