In her first monthly blog of 2022, the Italian Champion writes about her off-season
The original text was written in Italian by Elisa Longo Borghini for Trek Italy and can be read here.
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Ciao everyone!
When I was asked to write this blog, our team press officer suggested that it wasn’t necessary to introduce myself, that the fans know “perfectly” who I am. But I disagreed. Would you start talking to strangers without introducing yourself? At least, to be polite!
So, I decided to do it my way and… here I am! I’m Elisa Longo Borghini, a pro cyclist for Trek-Segafredo, and this year I’m going to try to keep you company, more or less, every month (I hope you wish more), talking about, well, a little bit of everything: from my life as a cyclist to my experiences around the world. And, maybe, I’ll even ask you what you’d like me to write about.
Well, introduction done, let’s get down to business.
It’s February and the season debut is approaching. From the 17th to the 20th, I will be racing the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, a short stage race in Spain. The first race of the season is an opportunity to tell you about how I spent the winter and give you an idea of my preparation.
I had a complete break (that means no bike!) of around 15 days in October, during which I was in the USA, first at Trek Bikes in Wisconsin, then at SRAM in Chicago, and in the end, at the Austin GP for Pirelli. (What a show!)
In November, I gradually resumed my athletic rhythms, following the training program that my coach, Paolo Slongo, prepared for me. The menu included three days of gym work (to which I added a bike ride of about 2-3 hours), one day of complete rest, and the other days dedicated to mountain biking and hiking in the mountains. In short, a program in which I was free to do what I liked, without stress.
With the arrival of December, the mountain walks were replaced by road bike rides (alas, hello beloved mountains) and some specific workout. In January, however, the workloads increased, as well as the road rides, and I kept my gym activity twice a week.
November and December were nice and different, compared to the past, because I could finally dedicate myself to mountain biking, thanks to my friends at Trek Italy who gave me a beautiful orange Trek Procaliber 9.8. It may seem strange, but until this year I had never tried this discipline, except for a few blissfully ignorant rides, a few years ago, with my brother Paolo, on a bike that wasn’t even a distant cousin of what we now call a mountain bike.
One of the most beautiful rides this winter was at night, using frontal lights, with my cousin Matteo and my boyfriend Jacopo. We started from Omegna, on Orta Lake, and we climbed up to Mount Barro, then we went down, in the woods, back to town.
Well… going uphill, everything was fine. On the descent, I felt like an elephant in a china shop. Jacopo and Matteo were descending like two dragons. I was behind them, a bloc. And of course, with extremely poor visibility.
Despite my super-clumsiness, I arrived at the destination safe and sound and… super excited! At one point, I even started to enjoy the descent, forgetting my fear of falling. It was a really nice experience. At the end, what a beautiful view from Mount Barro. You can see almost all of Lake Orta and, especially in the evening, it’s an incredible spectacle. Check out my Strava, if you want to have a look at my night ride: https://strava.app.link/kYZbOHMVtnb
In short, it’s been a great winter, with the novelty of mountain biking that I think will now become a constant in my off-season.
For the moment, from Ornavasso, that’s all.
Back to you!
Elisa
