Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling Team) has won the third edition of Strade Bianche Women Elite (1.WWT) in Tuscany today.
At the finish of the 127-kilometre race in Siena (Piazza del Campo), the Italian cyclist beat Katarzyna Niewiadoma (WM3 Pro Cycling Team) and last year’s winner Elizabeth Deignan (Boels Dolmans Cycling Team) to win the first UCI Women’s WorldTour race of the season.
Longo Borghini has had some good results in the previous editions of the race, having finished in 4th place last year and 3rd in 2015, but the win has eluded her.
At one stage today, it looked like she would miss out on the win again when she crashed on the long San Martino in Grania section of white road and damaged her bike. However, her French team-mate Cordon-Ragot swapped bikes with her meaning Longo Borghini was able to quickly rejoin the front of the race and be in a position to fight for the win on the steep streets of Siena.
RESULT
1 – Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling Team) 127km in 3h 44’ 45”, average speed 33.904km/h
2 – Katarzyna Niewiadoma (WM3 Pro Cycling Team) at 2″
3 – Elizabeth Deignan (Boels Dolmans Cycling Team) at 5″
Elisa Longo Borghini: “This is amazing! I had a bad crash in the longest gravel road section – I thought I couldn’t make it but I had super team-mates. Audrey Cordon gave me her bike; eventually, after some kilometers, I was able to get my spare bike from the car. The team was just amazing. This victory is for my them because, from the start, the girls rode so well. This is such a prestigious victory: I think I will remember this for ever. In the finale I was sure I was one of the strongest at the front as I knew that when riders attack like this [like Shara Gillow and Lucinda Brand did with two kilometres to go], it’s because they’re running out of gas. So I went full gas in the last climb. Between the Tour of Flanders and the Olympics, this is one of the most beautiful victories because this is such an incredible place and such an amazing race.”
