Romain Grégoire, a master of consistency. As he concluded his Classics campaign this Sunday in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the leader of Groupama–FDJ United once again delivered. In a fast-paced and historic edition, the puncheur from Besançon fully took part in the fight for the podium. In Liège, after a tight sprint, he ultimately finished seventh in the Belgian race. It marks his best career result in a Monument and his fourth consecutive top-10 in a major race.
With 4,000 metres of elevation gain spread across a dozen climbs, including the iconic Côte de Wanne, Côte de Stockeu, Côte de la La Redoute and Côte de la La Roche-aux-Faucons, the 2026 edition of Liège–Bastogne–Liège had all the ingredients for an intense and spectacular battle this Sunday, April 26. However, the fourth Monument of the season proved even tougher than expected, following a chaotic start and a surprising split in the peloton. After just five kilometres, out of 260 (!), a group of around fifty riders broke away following a crash, and the presence of Remco Evenepoel at the front immediately set the tone for the opening hours of racing. The gap initially grew to four minutes before a relentless chase gradually took place in the main bunch. “We didn’t expect that, and it made the race extremely difficult,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “Fortunately, we had three riders up front, and it’s always better to have a head start in this kind of race. We had strong cards with Ewen and Guillaume, and Enzo to support them. It was interesting for us.” “We were well represented at the front, and it was clearly to our advantage if it went far,” Romain Grégoire agreed.
“We rode a very good race” – Benoît Vaugrenard
At the head of the race, Enzo Paleni contributed to keeping the breakaway moving until mid-race and the Col de la Haussire, which created a first selection both in front and in the back. After that, cooperation weakened in the leading group, and the peloton led by teammates of Tadej Pogačar gradually brought the gap back under control. “We may have needed more teammates for Bernal and Remco to go further,” said Benoît. “That would have allowed us to have a small lead before tackling the Côte de Wanne.” In the end, most of the breakaway was caught just before the Wanne–Stockeu–Haute-Levée sequence, traditionally the first selective section of “La Doyenne.” This year, however, the selection had already begun earlier, leaving only around seventy riders in the peloton after these climbs, including Romain Grégoire, Quentin Pacher, Rudy Molard and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet. Little changed on the following hills — the Col du Rosier, Col du Maquisard and Côte de Desnié — but the intensity and the pace remained extremely high. As a result, riders were already somewhat fatigued by the time they reached the Côte de la Redoute, the traditional launchpad for the favourites.
Thanks to his teammates, Romain Grégoire entered it around tenth position, but he could not follow when Pogačar and Paul Seixas went clear. “We looked up ahead, saw them up the road, and from there we rode our race for the podium,” said Romain. “We knew that from La Redoute on, there would be two races in one,” added Benoît. “The race of the aliens and the other one. We rode a very good race from that point.” After that climb, around thirty riders regrouped behind the leading duo. “It was very even, as expected,” Benoît continued. “Quentin anticipated well before the Côte des Forges, and we still had four riders there.” “We did the race we had to do and still had numbers after La Redoute,” Grégoire insisted. “Rudy and Quentin had a great day and did an excellent job.” In the Côte des Forges, the Frenchman followed another acceleration to join the counterattack, but everything came back together before the final climb: the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, 15 kilometres from the finish.
“I have no regrets” – Romain Grégoire
Well positioned at the bottom and on the steepest ramps, Grégoire held the pace as Mattias Skjelmose briefly went clear in pursuit. “I rode the race I had to ride,” claimed Romain. “Given the last two years’ scenarios, I was really aiming for the sprint to go for the podium. I think that was my best chance. I was in the right moves on La Redoute and Roche-aux-Faucons, but with the profile of the final ten kilometres favouring regrouping, I was fully focused on the sprint.” A group of around twenty riders emerged over the final slopes, and Skjelmose was caught before the run-in to Liège, setting up a sprint for third place. The sprint was launched with about 300 metres to go by Remco Evenepoel himself, with Grégoire starting from around tenth position. After a strong kick, the Frenchman first moved up to third place before eventually finishing seventh. “It was a little short for third, but at least I have no regrets,” he said. “I sprinted in the wind, but I was able to do my sprint and still take a nice top 10.”
With that result, Romain Grégoire also secured his third top-10 in as many Ardennes Classics this season — the only rider in the peloton to do so. Pacher (27th), Molard (29th) and Martin-Guyonnet (31st) finished two minutes later. “We saw a great team again today, as in all the Ardennes races, and that’s worth highlighting,” concluded Benoît. “We close up this spring with a strong week. We were up front in all these Classics, with four top-10s in the last three races and especially in a Monument. We can be very satisfied, both in terms of attitude and results. Romain capped off the efforts of the whole group, and that’s what we’ll remember.”
