Proof of strength from the rider who imposed herself in the Italian race against the clock
For the second consecutive year, Elisa Longo Borghini will wear the Tricolore suit of the Italian time trial champion. With a superlative performance Elisa blew away the competition claiming, as her French colleague and friend Audrey Cordon-Ragot did yesterday, the fifth title of this discipline in her career.
Starting at 3pm, as the last athlete in the race, Elisa immediately marked a significant gap from the opponents. At the first intermediate checkpoint, after 17kms, her advantage was already 49″. From then on, she managed her strength and time, closing the race, after 33kms, with a time of 47’17” (average speed 42.5 km/h). Behind her were Soraya Paladin (+1’10”) and Tatiana Guderzo (+1’58”).
“It was a great day,” said Elisa before jumping on the podium.
“The victory was the crowning achievement of a race prepared and managed in the best possible way by myself and all the Trek-Segafredo staff who helped me, as well as them, I want to thank the Fiamme Oro sport group for their support. All this, despite a bit of bad luck as after 10kms, due to external interference, I lost the radio link with the team car and shortly after, due to a hole in the road, I lost my Wahoo bike computer. I had to interpret the race relying a lot on sensations, from the point of view of performance. But with Giorgia Bronzini and my coach Paolo Slongo, we had studied the course to perfection. I knew the trajectories and the intermediate points so that helped me to stay in line with the times we set. I managed myself and I listened my body. For this reason, the victory and the reconfirmation of the title gives me even more satisfaction,”
“Today’s race was also a test to check my condition, after the altitude training camp at Sestriere. There was optimism, because I had worked well, but without the feedback of a race, good feelings only count for so much. I got the answers I wanted, I know I’m feeling good and it’s a great starting point for the road race on Sunday. It will be a completely different race, of course, where not only individual strength will count but also the team. There will be so many variables that will affect the outcome. My mental setting in view of the test, however, is good. The conditions for a good race are there”.
