|
||||
|
Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s Elisa Longo Borghini has ended what was beginning to feel like a personal jinx at the Italian Road Race Championships by taking a dominant solo victory in Ivrea, Piemonte, in the north-west of the country. Dressed in the blue of the GS Fiamme Oro - the sports team of the Italian State Police - the 25-year-old from nearby Verbania - who took the silver medal in the previous two championships - climbed away from the field on the steep slopes of La Serra, then descended to a memorable victory, a minute and 51 seconds ahead of a chasing group of nine. 
To complete a perfect race for Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling former two-time road World Champion Giorgia Bronzini - wearing her usual black and orange colours - won the sprint for second place, and took the Silver Medal ahead of Soraya Paladin (Alé–Cipollini). “I’m really excited, and I’m really happy about my victory today,” Longo Borghini said. “It’s a kind of relief after all those second places, and after that crash I had some years ago. The Nationals were a bit of a nightmare for me, and now it looks more like a dream! “It was a course that really suited me because the climb with the finish line just after the downhill… “I could do the best. It was my cup of tea,” she laughed. In previous years Longo Borghini has suffered from isolation in a peloton dominated by strong Italian teams and, even when the course has suited her, has been powerless to prevent the eventual winning move from going clear. This time, however, she was able to call upon support when she needed it, and have more control over the race, before making the winning move herself. “Today I had a very strong team with the [Fiamme Oro], and we could control and do everything we wanted,” she explained. “Gio was also part of our team because she’s always riding with me the whole year. Just because we are riding an event in different jerseys we are not enemies, and so we worked together and in the end she got second. “She was so strong, and she was such a positive character for me during the race,” Longo Borghini added. “It was a perfect podium.” 
Having been the outstanding Italian rider almost since she joined the elite peloton, her new tricolore is a well deserved indicator of her class. Comparing it to other recent achievements is certainly not easy for the quietly spoken Italian, but she is under no illusions as to what it will mean to race in the colours of her country’s flag. “It’s not better than an Olympic Medal, but it’s something that will belong to me for a year,” she smiled. “It’s a real honour for me to wear the tricolore and I will try to show it as much as I can. I don’t know how to explain how it feels to have your national colours on your back, but it is something wonderful. “I just don’t know how to explain it in words.” Longo Borghini’s Road Race Championship title is added to that of the Time Trial, which she won for the third straight year this week. She will start the Giro d’Italia Femminile on Friday with the tricolore on her back in all individual events. “It’s going to be very exciting to show it during the Giro Rosa, and I’m looking forward to it. I will go there without any stress, and we will see day by day how I will feel.” 
Photo Credit: Fabiano Ghilardi Result
|
||||
;