Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE-Staff ADQ) powered to a primary ever win at Dwars door Vlaanderen, marking herself out as a key risk on this weekend’s Tour of Flanders.
Her victory, she stated, was “revenge” after being caught so near the road in Milan-San Remo.
After launching a solo break and shaking early breakaway Marlen Reusser, the Italian rider held off an elite chase group throughout interminably lengthy straight Flandrian roads – with riders behind together with Puck Pieterse, Lotte Kopecky, Elisa Balsamo and others unable to make inroads into her 20-second margin.
Kopecky gained the dash for second place, with Balsamo third.
“It was revenge for Milan-San Remo the place they caught me at 150m,” Longo Borghini stated afterwards. “I used to be very hungry for victory right now – I got here right here searching for nothing lower than that. I actually wished to show that I used to be sturdy.”
She had begun the season nicely with a with on the UAE Tour, however there had been frustration in latest weeks, she stated, and thanked her coach for protecting her calm.
Requested whether or not frustration was one of the best gas, she replied: “I am at all times bouncing again from a giant disappointment often, in order that’s proof that generally it really works.”
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Describing her break, she stated: “Principally I discovered myself alone on the cobbles, and from then I simply went full, I knew I wished to win and I succeeded.”
The way it occurred
With the Tour of Flanders on the horizon, one of the best riders within the ladies’s peloton took to the beginning in Waregem eager to check legs and gauge kind forward of the large occasion. Not that the 1.Professional-ranked Dwars door Vlaanderen is something to be sniffed at, with seven categorised climbs and loads of cobbles over its 128km size.
With the bergs backloaded in direction of the second two-thirds, it predictably took a while for the primary large assaults to return. It was 2023 Gent-Wevelgem winner Marlen Reusser (Movistar), with a transfer on Berg Ten Houte at round 70km to go.
She was joined by Femke Gerritse (SDWorx-Protime), Amber Kraak (FDJ-Suez) and Lucina Model (Lidl-Trek) to make a strong quartet, with Swiss rider Reusser wanting the strongest.
The climb of the Eikenberg, with 40km to go, spurred each escapees and chasers into motion, with Reusser and Kraak going clear on the entrance similtaneously Longo Borghini launched from the chasing peloton.
At 25km the Italian caught and handed Reusser – who by now was out entrance alone – and by no means appeared again.
With a formidable bunch of riders chasing from behind, generally getting as shut as 20 seconds on what have been lengthy, straight roads on which Longo Borghini was clearly seen, the catch appeared inevitable.
However a mixture of Longo Borghini’s energy and an incapacity to rearrange a coordinated chase behind noticed the Italian draw additional away, till, going into the ultimate few kilometres, it was out of the blue too late for the chasers.
Outcomes: Dwars door Vlaanderen 2025
1. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE-Staff ADQ, in 3:12:49
2. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SDWorx-Protime
3. Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek
4. Puck Pieterse (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck
5. Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SDWorx-Protime
6. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar
7. Vittoria Guazzini (Ita) FDJ-Suez
8. Maria Confalonieri (Ita) Uno-X Mobility
9. Elise Chabbey (Swi) FDJ-Suez
10. Marte Berg Edseth (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, all at 29sec