Racing

Strong team showings at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Magdeleine Vallieres and Axelle Dubau-Prévôt race into the top 10; Alex Baudin leads EF Education-EasyPost across the line

April 26, 2026

EF Pro Cycling pink was out in force at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

EF Pro Cycling was out in force at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

World champion Magdeleine Vallieres sprinted to eighth at the finish, just ahead of her teammate Axelle Dubau-Prévôt, who backed up her late-race break at La Flèche Wallonne with a phenomenal effort over La Redoute and a pull for Mags to the line. Noemi Rüegg, Cédrine Kerbaol, Alice Towers, and Stina Kagevi each did huge turns in the run-up, coloring the front of the peloton at the foot of La Redoute in pink. Even when the winning move went up the road on La Redoute, the team kept pushing and worked together to earn the best result that they could on the day.

“The girls were really strong today,” Mags said. “We had really good numbers in a really reduced peloton. I'm super impressed with the girls. Today was insane. I think we worked super well together. We gave it our best chance and were just missing the legs to follow the best. We were almost there.”

Axelle was thrilled by her first Monument. She has done most of her racing on gravel or her mountain bike over the past few years, but with the work she did deep in the finale of Liège, she showed that she is one of the strongest riders in the world on the road too.

“I had a bad position going into La Redoute, but I felt really strong and I was able to join Mags and work together with her and Noemi. We were really strong today,” Axelle said. “At the end, eighth and 10th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège is a huge result. The Ardennes are over now, but the season isn’t over and I think we have so many good things to show this year. I am proud to be here. I am proud. I am really happy. I met Mags and Noemi just one week ago. We have so many things to do together going forward. I am really proud of the spirit we have.”

EF Education-EasyPost also had a strong showing at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Jardi van der Lee and Michael Leonard kicked off the action with a powerful move to get ahead with a 52-rider group early in the race. They stayed away until the 95-kilometer-to-go mark and then did big turns, alongside Max Walker, Lukas Nerurkar, and Mikkel Honoré, to position Alex Baudin into the key climbs. Over the top of La Redoute, Alex hung on to the first chase group, racing for the podium. He pushed hard to get away over the final hills, but couldn’t get any distance, and finished 19th in the sprint at the end.

“It was hard,” Alex said. “I had really good legs. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the difference. I was almost there on the Roche aux Faucons, but I couldn't make it, and then it came down to a sprint, and I'm not fast enough. So, I'm disappointed, because the team did a really good job today. They did really good. They really helped me stay in position all day, so thanks to the team.”

That wraps up our Ardennes classics campaign. Despite setbacks, like losing captain Ben Healy before the start and some misfortune on the women’s side, both squads rallied together and raced with courage and verve.

They will take that momentum into the first Grand Tours of the year at La Vuelta Feminina and Giro d’Italia.

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