Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team l'IMAD) finished the 2026 Tour de France Femmes by moving onto the overall podium on the final stage in Nice on Sunday.
The result came as a surprise to the Italian champion, who leapfrogged Marlen Reusser (Movistar) after the Swiss rider crashed early in the 99.2-kilometre stage.
"I'm speechless - I have no words," Longo Borghini said post-stage. "I really didn't think I'd make it onto the podium after the fifth stage and after the time trial."
Longo Borghini finished seventh on the stage after a late puncture, 1:14 behind the stage and race winner Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) and second-placed Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), but moved up the general classification because Reusser's crash left her in the gruppetto, finishing 24:35 down on the yellow jersey.
While she may have been able to challenge Reusser without the crash, Longo Borghini also had to keep an eye on Canyon-SRAM's Antonia Niedermaier, who was 49 seconds behind her in the general classification.
"I told Paula that I was a bloc, but in my head it was a completely different story. On the tough climb, I managed not to lose too much to Demi and Kasia, and then I managed to get back onto Fisher-Black," Longo Borghini said.
"Then I tried to keep an eye on [Antonia] Niedermaier, who pulled all the way to the top of the climb, and I tried to make sure Antonia didn't attack. We kept Niedermaier calm, and once we caught Kasia, we decided to go for the sprint for Paula."
Blasi out-sprinted Niewiadoma-Phinney for second on the stage, while Longo Borghini finished off the back of the chase group, explaining, "In the end I got a flat tyre - because, of course, I couldn't escape having a bit of rotten luck!"
While Longo Borghini is a two-time winner of the Giro d'Italia, she hasn't won a stage or finished on the podium of the Tour de France until today, and said she couldn't believe the result.
Longo Borghini seemed relieved to have overcome the regrets of the days she lost time - 1:03 to Vollering in the stage 4 time trial, and 1:43 the next day in Belleville-en-Beaujolais.
"I just want to go home, see my family, get on the couch, and sleep for a week. Because over the last couple of days, I kept waking up at 3:00 AM thinking about the time trial, about Stage 5, about this, and about that..."
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