Longo Borghini claims another second place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

For the second year in a row, Elisa Longo Borghini comes close to her dream of winning one of her most coveted races, Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In 2023, she placed second after a two-up sprint with Demi Vollering (SD Worx); today, her second place comes behind Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) in a sprint of a small group.

Last year’s result was a nice satisfaction after complicated period due to a series of physical problems, and although it came from a different scenario this year, the silver medal in La Doyenne comes with no regrets. Elisa left no stone unturned in search of victory. She attacked, starting the decisive chase to the breakaway that, with less than 15 km to go, was starting to become a real threat. She rode hard, closing the gaps of the attacks of the five athletes that each dreamed of finish on the top step of the podium. In the end, Elisa gave everything in a sprint that confirmed that Brown was the fastest on the day.

After the finish line, despite the bittersweet taste of the runner’s up spot, Elisa could still smile, as she ends the classics season with a great performance, heading now into Grand Tour season with great confidence.

The sprint was a very long one actually. Kasia had a gap, I didn’t close it and then I waited until 150 meters to go to open up my sprint. In the last 75 meters Grace overcame me. I have to say that I’m satisfied, I came here for a good result and I had good legs. I tried  my best and today the fastest won, so congratulations to Grace Brown, she was really the fastest. For me, I can say that I did my best along with my teammates.

To be fair, I always believed that we would catch the breakaway because we had a strong team. Demi rode very strongly onto Roche-aux-Faucons, and I knew I just had to finish off the work of my teammates. I was really sure that we would catch them, but there was a chance they would stay with us because in the final it’s a bit easier as you enter Liège with the downhill. I knew I really had to go, so I attacked and dropped who I had to drop, almost everyone.

Maybe I was the strongest, but not always the strongest wins. Sometimes it’s the fastest or the smartest, and this is what makes cycling fantastic in my opinion. I don’t think I did too much, I just did what I had to do.