Although she came out on top at the end, Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) had to fight for the victory on stage 4 of the UAE Tour Women that finished atop the Jebel Hafeet climb.
After a different approach to the off-season, she waited for the last four kilometres to launch her winning move on Sunday afternoon.
"Last year we came here fully prepared, in a very good shape, this year we were uncertain about my shape because I had just a regular winter and I worked a lot on my base," Longo Borghini explained at the post-race press conference, wearing her new red jersey as the overall winner.
"It was my very first all-out effort this year, and I think I did a good power up the climb. I had to fight a lot. It was a bit harder to win this year."
Unable to shake off everyone with one massive attack, she instead leaned into the unpredictability, following the moves and letting her GC rivals exhaust themselves in the middle part of the climb before leaving them behind with a double punch.
"I just embraced the game that they were playing. It was fun, actually. I was looking for the best moment to attack, and when I felt it was a good moment, I went," she said.
"I was sure it would not be the one where I would drop everybody, so I just waited and looked around. I saw Kasia [Niewiadoma-Phinney] with her face pretty fatigued and was like, 'OK, I hit once more and then I’m pretty sure I will go solo'. I stayed away, I didn’t go easy to the finish, but I had my own pace and could enjoy the final."
Her UAE Team ADQ teammates had prepared the ground well with Karlijn Swinkels doing a massive pull from the bottom of the Jebel Hafeet climb until 7km to go, but Silvia Persico was unable to contribute much as the attacks started soon after.
"We had the plan to pace the climb with Karlijn and Silvia, but then Amanda Spratt attacked, and everything went a little bit chaotic. I was just staying with the first group, I let them play the game and then I played mine," explained Longo Borghini.
Asked about her feelings in a chaotic situation like that, the 34-year-old delivered a trademark one-liner: "Why should you panic? It’s just a bike race," she said.
This deadpan moment was made even more poignant by the fact that the Italian champion dedicated her victory to a deceased friend in the post-stage flash interview.
"This climb reminds me of a friend that I lost last year, and I have him in my heart, so this victory goes to him," said an emotional Longo Borghini
Cherie Pridham, UAE Team ADQ manager, was more than satisfied with the team’s performance at its home race.
"We couldn’t have asked for more from the team or week. We came here with expectations of improving our lead-out, which we are very happy with, and then a big focus on Elisa and helping her win, our second year at UAE Team ADQ and, of course, her third one. So we're very happy with that, just an incredible day,” Pridham said.
