Everyone remembers last year’s nail-biting showdown with Lotte Kopecky, and the tears that came with it. First when she pulled on the Maglia Rosa after Stage 1, and again after sealing overall victory. For Elisa Longo Borghini, winning the Giro d’Italia Women wasn’t just a triumph – it was a release, the payoff after years of chasing the top step but always just missing.
Before last season, Elisa had lined up at the Corsa Rosa 12 times, clocking eight top-10 finishes, including two podiums: second in 2017 behind Anna van der Breggen, and third in 2020, again behind van der Breggen. The Maglia Rosa came on her 13th attempt, and that long wait made the victory sweeter the emotions harder to hold back.
Let’s just say it: Longo Borghini is one of the most underappreciated athletes in Italian sport. A rider of her caliber deserves front-page treatment every race day. Her palmarès? Stacked. Two Ronde van Vlaanderen titles, a Paris-Roubaix, Strade Bianche, two Trofeo Alfredo Binda wins, and more than 50 pro victories overall. Add to that six World Championship medals between individual and mixed relay (five bronzes and one silver), plus two Olympic bronze medals from the road races in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
This year, she’ll line up at the Giro in new colors. After six seasons with Lidl-Trek, the Ornavasso native has taken on a fresh challenge with a three-year deal at the increasingly ambitious UAE Team ADQ. Her first half of the season? Rock solid. She won a stage and the GC at the UAE Tour, along with Dwars door Vlaanderen and Brabantse Pijl. But there were also some rough patches such as Strade Bianche, Amstel Gold Race, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, plus a crash at the Tour of Flanders that left her with a concussion. That’s exactly why we think she’ll arrive at the Giro Women with fire in her belly.
She’s said it herself: the Giro is one of her biggest targets of the year. And when Elisa sets her sights on something, she usually doesn’t miss. If she doesn’t win, she comes damn close. The Italian fans will be waiting then – with high hopes – to see her light up the race again, right from the opening time trial in Bergamo.