In the most anticipated stage of this Giro d’Italia Women, UAE Team ADQ delivered a truly remarkable performance. Elisa Longo Borghini is the new wearer of the Maglia Rosa at the end of the grueling mountain stage finishing atop Monte Nerone, after a flawless team effort and a spectacular attack set up with Silvia Persico.
Stage 7, the longest and most demanding of the 2025 edition, stretched over 150 km and featured a punishing final climb up Monte Nerone (almost 15 km at an average gradient of 6.7%). UAE Team ADQ seized the moment to reshape the general classification.
The key move came with about 25 km to go: on a descent, Silvia Persico launched a decisive attack, catching the group of GC contenders off guard. Elisa Longo Borghini responded immediately, creating a perfect team move. With them was Liane Lippert of Movistar, who had won the previous stage and was a teammate of the current Maglia Rosa holder, Marlen Reusser.
For over 10 kilometers, Silvia Persico led a masterful chase, bringing her team leader up to the front of the race. From there, Elisa continued alone, eventually catching Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek), the last survivor from the early breakaway. Once she caught and dropped the Dutch rider, Elisa tackled the final kilometers of the climb head-on.
Despite a strong comeback from Australia’s Sarah Gigante – who won the stage – Elisa Longo Borghini crossed the line in second place, 45 seconds behind, earning 6 valuable bonus seconds. That was enough to take over the lead and don the coveted Maglia Rosa.
Elisa Longo Borghini now leads the general classification by 22 seconds over Marlen Reusser. Tomorrow’s final stage from Forlì to Imola still holds plenty of uncertainty: the World Championships 2020 circuit promises drama and fireworks. UAE Team ADQ, with Silvia Persico, Alena Amialiusik, Eleonora Gasparrini, Brodie Chapman, Erica Magnaldi, and Elisa Longo Borghini, will fight to the last pedal stroke in pursuit of overall victory.
Elisa Longo Borghini said: “What Silvia Persico and I did on the descent wasn’t part of the plan. The original plan was to stay on the wheels and make a decisive attack three kilometers from the finish, but instead, Silvia and I – along with the whole team – decided to stay in control on the descent, and we found ourselves at the front. At that point, I told Silvia to keep going because I thought it would be better to hit the climb with a 20-second lead and let the others chase. I truly owe this day to my teammates. We’ve built this Giro, this team synergy, through months and months of preparation, training camps, tough days, long climbs in the Dolomites, and motorpacing sessions with Paolo Slongo. We’ve dreamed of this day – sometimes we got a bit discouraged – but we never gave up. We had this goal in mind, and today we achieved it. Tomorrow will be hard. Holding on to the jersey won’t be easy. As a team, we know where we stand – we’re keeping our feet firmly on the ground and will defend ourselves with heart.”
(ph. Getty Sport)
