Elisa Longo Borghini's reaction:
"I feel a ‘Lidl’ emotional, especially because I have the Tricolore and I’m racing in my country. I’m always proud to wear the Tricolore and to win here is something special and unique. Doing it in front of a rider I respect a lot, like Annemiek van Vleuten, made it even greater. It’s amazing for me, for the team and also for our new sponsor. I would like to thank all my teammates, the staff and our manager Luca Guercilena, who is at home right now: I hope I made him happy.
"My action wasn’t planned, to be honest. We started the stage with the idea of saving as much energy as possible in view of tomorrow’s hard stage while, of course, remaining attentive. When I saw Annemiek attacking, I felt the instinct to follow and see what would happen. We caught Veronica Ewers and went full to the line. From the 5km to go sign onwards, I just focused on the best way to win the stage. Curious, but nice, that my last two victories came in sprints. Ina [Teutenberg] was great in leading me from the team car. The rest, it was just my strong desire to win.
"Tomorrow will be an important stage for the GC, but let's go step by step. Now, I want to enjoy the moment. Being there, on the GC podium, makes me happy, but my thoughts on the eve of the race have not changed. I want to live the Giro day by day. So many stages hide dangers. The keyword is to be ready and, as for the rest, we will see as we go along.
"Delivering the first victory for Lidl-Trek makes me proud. We started this new chapter in our team history with great motivation and ambitious goals. And the new sponsor is as enthusiastic as we are for this new adventure. Being the first to raise the arms to the sky is certainly special."
