'No moments to relax' for constant contender Elisa Longo Borghini at 13th Giro d'Italia Women

There have been plenty of changes at the Giro d’Italia Women through recent years but Elisa Longo Borghini performing among the top overall riders has been a constant. The five-time Italian champion will be lining up at the home Grand Tour for a 13th time on Sunday, with a third trip to the overall podium within her sights.

There are a number of big races ahead for the 32-year-old in the coming weeks but the pursuit of pink looms large for the Lidl-Trek rider who first lined up at her home Grand Tour as a 19-year-old. She was the youngest in the race then but that didn’t stop the rider who lined up with Top Girls Fassa Bortolo Ghezzi for her debut edition finding her way straight into the top 20. The next year Longo Borghini moved into the top 10, which she has rarely been out of since. 

In 14 years of racing there has been just one Giro that Longo Borghini hasn’t started, with a brutal crash at the preceding national championships in 2013 stopping her from lining up that year, and a decade later it was also a crash that caused her first ever DNF at the 2023 event. 

She overshot and went over the edge on a twisty stage 5 descent while in second overall and in pursuit of race leader Annemiek van Vleuten. Even though she clambered out of the prickles and back up to the road to finish the stage, the injuries that came as a consequence left her unable to continue.

A bitter pill to swallow when she was so well positioned, and with such clearly strong form, though the fact that in 12 editions this was her very first DNF is testament to the rider’s strength and staying power in the race. From Sunday July 7 to Sunday July 14, these are the characteristics that could help her add to the already impressive tally of seven top ten GC finishes, two stage wins and two overall podium places.

"I feel ready, ready to start to start the Giro and, ready to finish it,” she said, wryly referring to her very first DNF in 2023 as she spoke to Cyclingnews over the phone in the days before the start of the race.

"First of all, I've been preparing, for the Giro with the team, late in May and in the beginning of June at altitude. Then, I went to Tour de Suisse and Nationals [where she claimed a fifth national road title] and then I went back to altitude with the national team. So I think I'm in OK shape to start the Giro and to see where I'm at," said Longo Borghini.

A well-rounded GC field

Last season had its challenges, with injury and illness, but it has been a forceful reboot into 2024. It started with a superb run through spring with the rider yielding a second Tour of Flanders win, victory at De Brabantse Pijl and Trofeo Oro in Euro as well as podium placings at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, La Vuelta Femenina and Tour de Suisse. There are, however plenty more big goals to come.

"It's going to be very tough summer," said Longo Borghini. "Because I'm going to Giro Olympics and, the Tour de France, but I feel ready and curious to see where I'm standing."

The process of finding out starts this weekend, with the race that plays out over eight stages and 876.7km being the main target of the three events for the rider from Ornavasso. The maglia rosa will find a new home, as there are no former winners on the start line, with the retirement – for now, so even though Longo Borghini is the contender with the strongest record when it comes to results at the event – and therefore looks to have a powerful claim in the chase for pink – she is clearly not taking anything for granted.

Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), who finished third overall in Italy in 2021 and has claimed overall victory at the Tour de France Femmes and La Vuelta Femenina in the past 12 months, will also not be lining up to chase the missing Grand Tour title. However, plenty of powerful prospects will be, so even though Longo Borghini is the contender with the strongest record when it comes to results at the event – and therefore looks to have a powerful claim in the chase for pink – she is clearly not taking anything for granted. The rider is quick to point out that the field of challengers is deep.

“It seems these days that if there is no Vollering at the start line of one race, the race is basically [considered] useless, which pisses me off, a lot. There are a lot of strong riders, because the level of the peloton has raised so much," said Longo Borghini.

"For example, Juliette Labous will be there, Neve Bradbury will be there. There are a lot of climbers that can contend at this Giro and a lot of puncheurs and strong riders in general.

"This is not going to be an easy stage race, I can tell you."

The Giro never is.

'No moments to relax'

The Women's WorldTour event, which for a long period was the only top-tier ascent-heavy women's race that stretched beyond a week, has featured a number of iconic but brutal climbs through the years, from the Zoncolan and Stelvio to the Mortirolo. There should be no doubt that this will be another testing edition, particularly with the dual Blockhaus ascent on stage 7, which delivers 3,600m of vertical elevation gain. 

Though that isn't all the overall prospects – such as Longo Borghini, Labous (dsm firmenich-Post NL), Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), Liane Lippert (Movistar), Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx) and Mavi Garcia (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) – will have to contend with.

"This year's course for me is a course that gives no moments to relax," said Longo Borghini. "If you're doing GC, for instance, you need to be really focused every day because it's very tricky parcours, especially in the middle."

After an opening time trial and a stage for the sprinters, the race heads into the hills, delivering a category 2 finish to Toano on stage 3, while stage 4 has the category 2 San Marino and two more category 3 ascents before the finish in Urbino. then it is a lumpy day to Foligno for stage 5 before the longest stage of the race, delivers an unrelenting succession of climbs before the finish in Chieti.

"It's a nasty stage and then you have the Blockhaus so, you will get to the end of the Giro already super fatigued and then you will need to deal with long climbs," said Longo Borghini, referring to the final weekend, where the Blockhaus day is followed by a testing closing stage with the category 1 Castel del Monte midway through.

"For me, for my capabilities, it's an okay Giro. I will need to work a lot, if I want to get a good result."

The team by Longo Borghini's side is filled with a powerful mix of experience, well-oiled support riders and young talent. The only rider on the start line that has pinned on a number in as many editions as Longo Borghini is fellow Lidl-Trek rider Lucinda Brand, while Lizzie Deignan, who finished fourth overall in 2021, isn’t far behind their count of 13, heading into her 10th edition. 

In the car, head director Ina-Yoko Teutenberg adds another big swag of race experience, having lined up at six editions and taken 13 stage wins, the last of those coming in the 2011 event that marked Longo Borghini's debut.

Add to that the reliable Australian support duo of Lauretta Hanson and Brodie Chapman, the sprint of Elisa Balsamo and finally the climbing power of Gaia Realini – who after Longo Borghini crashed last year continued the charge for the team and made it onto the podium in third plus won the youth classification.

Lidl-Trek clearly has its bases covered at the 2024 Giro d'Italia Women and Longo Borghini is a formidable trump card to have among the hand, so what is the rider in the tricolor jersey of the Italian champion hoping to walk away with after the final finish line in L'Aquila?

"If it's possible, maybe a stage win and in the end... if I have the privilege to do the GC, a podium place would be a great thing." 

And, while Longo Borghini may not have said it, surely pink would be a dream.