Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) had to wait until her 13th Giro d’Italia Women participation – in 2024 – to finally clinch the overall triumph she had been chasing for all her career. But it didn’t take her long to double up, with another success completed this Sunday in Imola, the day after she had claimed back the leader’s pink jersey (maglia rosa)!
After the delight of her win in 2024, this year Longo Borghini confirmed: “This second win means a lot,” as she celebrated securing victory ahead of Movistar Team’s Marlen Reusser (+18’’) and AG Insurance - Soudal Team’s Sarah Gigante (+1’11’’).
Aged 33, Longo Borghini has long been an important figure in women’s cycling, guiding Italy to many of the greatest joys, but her relationship with the Giro had been a mixed one. She loves racing at home, making the most of the interactions with the fans. She has snatched a handful of stage wins (3), stepped on the overall podium for the first time in 2017 (2nd), worn her first maglia rosa in 2020 (after the opening team time trial)… but the final victory had always escaped her until the 2024 edition when she ruled the overall standings from day 1 until the end.
Finally, the Italian champion (six times Italian National Champion in the road race, including the last three in a row) had found her way to victory in her home Grand Tour. She may have served up the same dish this summer, but didn’t follow the same recipe!
“It’s been an incredible journey”
Just like the 2024 edition, the 2025 Giro d’Italia Women began with an individual time trial (14.2km in Bergamo), an exercise in which Longo Borghini excels. But this time, she came third on the opening stage behind two mighty powerhouses: Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser, back to her best version after a year 2024 marked by illnesses, and Belgium’s UCI World Champion Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx – Protime), ever impressive when it comes to delivering raw power.
Longo Borghini left 16 seconds on the road that day - virtually nothing, with all the climbing ahead of the riders en route to Imola. There are few who are as aware as Longo Borghini as to the scale of the challenges that needed to be overcome to secure the maglia rosa. “It’s been an incredible journey with my team,” she said on Sunday, after “eight days of full gas” that eventually rewarded “months of work and sacrifices. It was a perfect week, where everyone pushed themselves to the limit to support me.”
This year, Longo Borghini didn’t win a stage but she built her overall victory through extraordinary consistency: 6th in Aprica, where Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek) took her first UCI Women’s WorldTour victory; 4th in the sprint at Trento, ruled by Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime); 2nd in Pianezze, in the wake of up-and-rising climber Sarah Gigante; 6th in another sprint dominated by Wiebes, in Monselice; 9th in Terre Roveresche, where Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) punched her way to victory; 2nd again behind Gigante to take the maglia rosa up Monte Nerone; and finally 4th in Imola, to control Reusser while Lippert claimed a second success.
From pink to yellow?
“This victory means a lot, especially because I was coming off a spring where I didn't get the results I hoped for,” Longo Borghini explains. After her victory in the UAE Tour Women, she ruled two UCI ProSeries events (Dwars door Vlaanderen / A Travers La Flandre and De Brabantse Pijl – La Flèche Brabançonne), but was frustrated in the return of Milano-Sanremo Donne (11th), withdrew from the Ronde van Vlaanderen and didn’t play the part she was hoping for in races such as Strade Bianche Donne (55th) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes (48th). She was fighting at the top in the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas but ultimately had to settle for 2nd place.
In the Giro d’Italia Women, her consistency was rewarded with the ninth overall victory in her career, the sixth at UCI WorldTour level (two Giro d’Italia Women victories, two at the UAE Tour Women, one Women’s Tour, and once at the former WWT Emakumeen Bira). “We managed to reset everything and prepare for the Giro as the overall goal for the whole team,” she said, praising her teammates for not only supporting her but also creating the opening that saw her drop Reusser with 16 kilometres to go on the seventh stage.
Longo Borghini’s squad won’t get much time to rest now - they’re already gearing for the next UCI Women’s WorldTour event: the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (26 July - 3 August). After the maglia rosa, can they claim the maillot jaune?