Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) will not start stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, pulling out on Monday morning due to a gastrointestinal infection.
Longo Borghini was among the Tour de France Femmes favourites and completed the first two stages, but lost nearly three minutes in two days of racing. On Monday, her team confirmed that she was struggling with illness and would not be able to continue the race.
"Unfortunately, Elisa Longo Borghini will not start stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes due to a gastrointestinal infection," a short statement on social media read.
"After fighting through the first two stages, her condition worsened and, together with the team, she made the tough decision to withdraw."
"She’ll now take time to rest and recover before focusing on the next goals of the season."
Longo Borghini is the eighth rider to leave the Tour after just two stages, with Marlen Reusser (Movistar) another high-profile early abandon on stage 1, followed by Charlotte Kool (Picnic PostNL) before stage 2, whilst during the second stage, four riders were ejected after finishing outside the time cut.
After winning the Giro d'Italia Women earlier this month, Longo Borghini came to the Tour de France Femmes with the intention of chasing stages rather than the overall, as she has never won a stage of the Tour before.
With GC not her ambition, it was not an immediate concern that she lost time over the first two punchy stages to Plumelec and Quimper, but it was clear that she was not feeling good, and her gastrointestinal issues worsened prior to the start of stage 3 in La Gacilly.
This is the second year in a row where Longo Borghini will not complete the Tour de France Femmes, after she had to pull out right before the start of the race in 2024 after crashing in training.
Heading home from France, Longo Borghini is set to refocus on her goals to come this year, which are likely to be focused around the World Championships road race in Kigali, Rwanda. Across a decorated, 14-year career, the Italian has never won an elite world title.
In the absence of their star rider and main leader, UAE Team ADQ will now look to the likes of Karlijn Swinkels, Eleonora Gasparrini and Lara Gillespie to chase stage-winning opportunities for the remaining seven days of this race.
The Tour de France Femmes continues on Monday with a 163.5km stage to Angers, which is expected to finish in a sprint after two punchy days.
