INFO WITH ONE DAY TO GO
April 25 th 2026 - 17:37
The tenth edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes will feature two former winners on Sunday: Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen. The experienced Dutch pair were amongst those to speak at the pre-race presentation on Saturday in Place Saint-Lambert in the centre of Liège, as the riders looked ahead to battling over a course which is more challenging than ever.
The winner in 2021 and 2023, Vollering has a particularly strong record in La Doyenne and is in great form following her sensational win at La Flèche Wallonne Femmes on Wednesday. Ahead of Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes race, FDJ-Suez rider Vollering stated, “It was a really successful spring campaign for the whole team, so I’m looking to finish it off in style. I always love this race a lot.”
The likes of Tour de France champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Team Visma - Lease a Bike), 2024 Tour winner Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto), world champion Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly), Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) and the in-form Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) are also amongst the many headliners going into the race. Ferrand-Prevot is ready for action, saying, “The harder the race, the better for me.”
“THE DISTANCE HAS INCREASED AND IT’S TOUGH RIGHT FROM THE START”
The 10th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes reflects the modernity and maturity of an event that has accompanied recent developments in women’s cycling. On Sunday, the peloton will tackle the most challenging route in the race’s history. “The distance has increased [to 156 km] and it’s tough right from the start, following the same route as the men’s race between Bastogne and Liège,” explains race director Gilles Maignan. “The Col de Haussire comes very quickly, after about twenty kilometres, then it’s the Wanne–Stockeu–Haute Levée sequence, the Col du Rosier, a brand-new sequence over the Maquisard and Desnié, the Côte de la Redoute, Les Forges and finally the Roche-aux-Faucons.”
These ten climbs make Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes a gruelling and attractive race, with 2,830 metres of elevation gain. “These are names that mean something to all cycling fans,” continues Maignan. “It’s a prestigious race that every rider wants on her list of victories. We have the very best in the peloton with Demi Vollering, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, the world champion… Unfortunately, last year’s winner [Kim Le Court Pienaar, injured in a crash at the Tour of Flanders] is missing, but there’s plenty to make for a fantastic race.”
VOLLERING AIMS TO FINISH OFF THE SPRING IN STYLE
Once again FDJ-Suez arrive at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes with impressive strength in depth in their ranks. In 2024 the French team secured the victory in Liège courtesy of Grace Brown - who retired at the end of that year. Their current leader Demi Vollering has two wins and five podiums in the last six editions. “It was a really successful spring campaign for the whole team, so I’m looking to finish it off in style,” says Vollering. “I always love this race a lot. I’m looking forward to doing the Redoute and the Roche-aux-Faucons, I’m sure I’m going to really enjoy it again.” In addition to Vollering, the team includes the highly proficient climber Évita Muzic [preparing for her ninth appearance in the race having finished in the top 20 the last four years] and Elise Chabbey, who was fifth in 2023 and fourth in 2024 in Liège, when riding for Canyon//Sram. Vollering values them highly, noting, “To praise them is the least I can do. I really enjoy racing with them and they really do their best. We have such a good time together, chasing beautiful memories, and I hope we can add another one on Sunday.”
FERRAND-PREVOT & NIEWIADOMA PHINNEY WANT TO MAKE THE RACE TOUGHER
The list of winners to have triumphed in both Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift currently only contains two names: the Dutch riders Annemiek van Vleuten and Demi Vollering. After tasting glory in yellow over the past two years, the Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney (Canyon//Sram zondacrypto) and the French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) hope to emulate them. “I'm not at my peak yet, but I'm improving week by week, so it's encouraging,” explains ‘PFP’, who was seventh in La Flèche Wallonne Femmes midweek. “The Mur de Huy is a real challenge, a very steep climb, and I realise that I've lost a bit of explosiveness over the years. I think tomorrow will suit me better, at least I hope so. The harder the race, the better for me.”
“I hope FDJ-Suez will make the race harder, like they have been doing since the beginning of the year, because that benefits us too,” adds Niewiadoma Phinney, the only rider to have finished all nine editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes [her best result was third in 2017]. “I have the experience, that’s for sure. I know the course very well and I know where the decisive moves have taken place in the past. I hope that will work in our favour. It’s the last spring classic, the last opportunity to win. I’m ready to fight, ready to suffer.”
PIETERSE: “IT’S JUST GOOD VIBES”
Puck Pieterse is no stranger to glory in Liège, even if she had to settle for a close second place to Kim Le Court Pienaar last year in Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes. “I’m happy to be back,” says the young Dutch star, who took her first professional victory in the Belgian city, at the end of stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in 2024, before conquering the Mur de Huy in 2025. “I have some good memories from here, it’s just good vibes!” On Wednesday, she finished second behind Vollering in La Flèche Wallonne Femmes, which made for “a good race. I felt super good all day. Everything is going to plan.” Asked whether she aims for victory, Pieterse doesn’t shy away: “Yes.” At 23, she’s perfectly aware of the challenges lying ahead of her. “I think it will be a hard race overall, with headwinds as well which will make it harder”, she anticipates. “And on the climbs, the pacing will probably be quite hard to make everybody feel tired.” If she were to claim victory, she would be the youngest winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, beating the reference set by Demi Vollering, aged 24 in 2021.
VAN DER BREGGEN: “THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES EVERYWHERE ON THE COURSE”
Anna van der Breggen’s record in Liège comprises glorious moments, as she opened the list of winners with two consecutive successes (2017 & 2018), but also led Demi Vollering to victory in 2021 when the two Dutch stars raced for SD Worx. Both her victories came in Ans, before the finish returned to the city centre. “With a potential sprint, it suits me less, but the nice thing with Liège is that there are opportunities everywhere on the course”, Van der Breggen explains. “I need to try to make use of that and see if we can surprise the others. You need good legs for that as well.”
“Of course, victory should always be the goal,” the Oranje icon adds. “Last year [11th], I was coming from sickness and now I feel a lot better but if you see what happened on Mur de Huy [fifth], we need to be honest about it. I had a good week. I’m feeling good and I hope we can do a good race.” Van der Breggen is also ready to play the team game again, with the likes of Lotte Kopecky [fifth last year], Mischa Bredewold and Nienke Vinke by her side. “If they feel good, we can do a lot,” she insists.
DARK HORSES ALSO “RACE TO WIN”
The prestige of Liège naturally inspires great ambitions, particularly among the champions who have been in fine form in recent weeks. At 23, Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) is ready to shake things up, following her stunning debuts at the Amstel (first) and La Flèche Wallonne Femmes (third). “I'm quite excited, expectations are high,” the Spaniard says ahead of her first appearance at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes. “Maybe Amstel was a bit lucky, but I proved in La Flèche that I have the legs. Now for sure the pressure is on. I take it as a good opportunity with good motivation. Friday’s recon was my first here. I saw how hard the climbs are and how closely they follow each other. I think it’s good for me. We race to win, so we will try to go for that.”
In the wake of Blasi, world champion Magdeleine Vallières (EF Education-Oatly) took sixth place on the Mur de Huy. “It’s important to have a strong team around us for positioning”, explains the Canadian rider, who is reunited with Cédrine Kerbaol [fourth last year in Liège] in the EF Education-Oatly ranks, alongside Noemi Rüegg. “We have several cards to play and the ambition is to win with the team. It doesn’t matter who does it, we’ll be happy.”
