Elisa Longo Borghini claimed another victory today on the climb to Oropa. The Italian champion from UAE Team ADQ delivered yet another display of class at the Trofeo Tessile e Moda, a new 95.3-kilometre race starting in Valdengo and finishing at the Santuario di Oropa.
Racing on home roads in Piedmont, Elisa took a solo win after an outstanding team performance. She dropped the last remaining rival able to follow her, World Time Trial Champion Marlen Reusser, and rode alone to the summit to take a resounding victory and enjoy the applause of the enthusiastic local crowd.
The race was animated by an early breakaway that stayed clear until the foot of the final climb. At that point, the teams of the main favourites – including UAE Team ADQ – worked hard to reduce the gap and then increased the pace on the ascent to thin out the group.
Francesca Pellegrini, Erica Magnaldi, Eleonora Gasparrini, Greta Marturano, Alena Amialiusik and Brodie Chapman all did an excellent job for the team. Then came an acceleration by Marlen Reusser, immediately followed by Elisa Longo Borghini, who refused to give the Swiss rider any space. About three kilometres from the finish, the Italian champion launched her decisive move, riding away solo and extending her advantage to 37 seconds to claim a well-deserved victory.
Brodie Chapman finished fourth, Greta Marturano eighth, and Erica Magnaldi tenth.
Elisa Longo Borghini said: “It was an honour for me to climb such a famous ascent like Oropa, where Marco Pantani wrote an important page in cycling history. Yesterday I came here with my teammates for a recon, and it was nice to show them this climb. I really hope this race can have a future and become a late-season classic. Of course, I was one of the favourites today, but it’s never easy to win. This race in my region, Piedmont, meant a lot to me. I really like this climb – it was the first time I tackled it in a race – and I wanted to get a great result. I have to thank my teammates for their incredible work once again today. I feel truly honoured to have won on this climb.”
(ph. Flaviano Ossola)
