Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) took a solo win at the Giro dell’Emilia Internazionale Donne Elite to claim her fourth victory at the Italian race, attacking on the first time up the San Luca climb and using her descending skills to distance her rivals in cold and wet conditions.
Longo Broghini was able to hold on to her gap in the final 10 kilometres, with Evita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) crossing nine seconds behind as she outsprinted Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich PostNL) for second place.
In its 11th edition, the 114km women's race featured a long, flat run-in before the two ascents of San Luca (2.1km at 9.4%) which provided the launching point for the winning move.
The peloton stayed mostly together as they made their way from Vignola to San Luca, with only Top Girls Fassa Bortolo teammates Marta Pavesi and Chiara Reghini breaking away for a short time before being reeled in on the slopes of San Luca.
Although a live broadcast was planned, the helicopters were grounded due to weather conditions, preventing the broadcast from airing.
"Today it was a beautiful race, although after the cold I suffered through at the Worlds in Zurich, I would have liked some sunshine. For me it is always a pleasure to race and win in my country, wearing the tricolore jersey. It always has a special feeling, I never get tired of it,” Longo Borghini said in a team media release.
“Of the four victories at Giro dell'Emilia, I think the first one was the most beautiful, also because back in the day [2015] I didn't win often…"
Her three previous victories took place in 2015, 2016, and 2022.
"Today's was different, because usually everything is resolved in the final climb to San Luca, whereas today I managed to go alone on the descent and then, seeing that the gap was big enough, I took the chance to ride straight to the finish," said Longo Borghini.
"I love the Giro dell'Emilia, I think it is one of the most beautiful races, a true autumn Classic. I am happy that the organisers took up my suggestion to make it more challenging. Putting a climb in the middle was impossible, so the double climb of San Luca was a winning choice.”
Longo Borghini, who is moving to UAE Team ADQ next season, said she “particularly wanted to win” as she said goodbye to her team of six years and head director Ina-Yoko Teutenberg.
“These [today and then the Simac Tour] are my last days with Lidl-Trek. Today, was the last race with Ina in the team car. I want to close this chapter in the best possible way. And then, there was also Luca [Guercilena] with us at the race. He clearly asked us to win, I couldn't, and didn't want, to disappoint him [laughing].”
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