This spring, the Ardennes Classics will be marked by the 90th anniversary of La Flèche Wallonne, with celebrations naturally taking place on the Mur de Huy.
The climbing fest will also be intense on the roads of La Doyenne (112th edition) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes (10th edition).
Among the new features, riders will have to tackle an unprecedented sequence of climbs up Col du Maquisard and Côte de Desnié.
The season is just beginning, yet the punchiest stars of the peloton are already setting their sights on spring summits, especially those of the Ardennes. In April, the women’s and men’s pelotons will once again take on the climbs that have made La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège legendary, from the Mur de Huy to La Roche-aux-Faucons, via Les Forges, Haussire, and La Redoute.
This spring, the Ardennes celebrations will begin with an anniversary: on Wednesday 22 April, La Flèche Wallonne will turn 90. For the occasion, the peloton will face a classic 208.8 km course. After a demanding start from Herstal (a new host city), via the Trasenster and Les Forges climbs, the riders will tackle the modern Flèche circuit, with the climbs of Ereffe and Cherave before climbing the Mur de Huy. Tadej Pogacar’s successor will be crowned after three laps, at around 4.30 p.m.
For the third time, the women’s peloton will set off after the men, with a start at 1:40 p.m. from the Grand Place in Huy. The riders will immediately tackle the Bohissau climb, before two more ascents at Courrière and Durnal to set the stage for the final showdown on the Ereffe – Cherave – Huy circuit. The 148.2 km route is familiar but difficult to master: a different champion has won each year since Anna van der Breggen’s last victory (2021).
The challenges of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes have also crowned stars with all sorts of backgrounds, all the way to Kim Le Court’s triumph in 2025. The contenders for her succession will have to overcome the toughest course in the history of the event, now in its 10th edition. There are ten categorised climbs on the women’s course, which will follow exactly the same route as the men between Bastogne and Liège. The female peloton will discover the Col de Haussire, tackle the Wanne – Stockeu – Haute-Levée trilogy, and cross the Col du Rosier. The Col du Maquisard and the Côte de Desnié will then be combined for the first time, before the grand finale on the slopes of La Redoute, Les Forges and La Roche aux-Faucons (156 km in total).
In the early afternoon, the challenges will be the same for the men’s peloton, which will have set off in the morning for a 259.5 km race from the Quai des Ardennes in Liège. On the road to Bastogne, the riders will climb the Côte de Saint-Roch before reaching the La Doyenne roundabout and battling it out on the legendary climbs that recently crowned Tadej Pogacar (2021, 2024, 2025) and Remco Evenepoel (2022, 2023) in the Cité Ardente.
The two stars have already announced they will meet up for the Liège crown this spring. Isaac Del Toro is also gearing to join Pogacar. In the Ardennes, they will face off against contenders such as Ben Healy, Matteo Jorgenson, Kévin Vauquelin, Mattias Skjelmose, Paul Seixas… The likes of Julian Alaphilippe and Tom Pidcock will lead Tudor Pro Cycling Team and Pinarello – Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, which, like Cofidis, qualified thanks to their performances in the 2025 UCI ProTeams rankings. Team Flanders-Baloise, Unibet Rose Rockets, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and TotalEnergies complete the peloton for La Flèche Wallonne. The latter two are also invited to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, alongside Burgos-Burpellet-BH and Equipo Kern Pharma.
The women’s peloton is expected to include the last three winners of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, all of whom have already won in the Ardennes. Anna van der Breggen, Puck Pieterse, and Kim Le Court are all preparing to face them. In addition to the 14 UCI Women’s WorldTeams, Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi and Volkerwessels Cycling Team are automatically invited. Cofidis, Lotto Intermarché Ladies, Ma Petite Entreprise, Mayenne Monbana My Pie, and St Michel Preference Home – Auber93 teams will also join the Ardennes celebrations.
