She tried, and tried again, but Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) had to settle for the bronze medal in the elite women's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal. The result equalled her previous bests in Zurich in 2024, Imola in 2020 and Valkenburg in 2012, but for the 34-year-old, her attacking display was a way of forcing her rivals to bury themselves and really earn their victory.
Part of a select chasing group trying to reel in eventual winner Demi Vollering (Netherlands), Longo Borghini was the first to attack once the Dutch star was caught with 15.3km to go. She launched a searing attack at the start of the last 13.3km lap and opened up more than ten seconds before the chasers managed to reel her in before the top of the main Voie Camillien-Houde climb.
The effort cost her, and after being caught, she lost touch with Vollering and silver medalist Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland), spending the better part of 11 kilometres chasing. She came within just a few seconds on the finishing straight, but couldn't make contact.
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It was another example of what she called "Italian grit" on display.
When asked if her late attack was a risk, Longo Borghini was frank. "If you don't risk, you don't win the race, so you have to [take a] risk; otherwise, you never know. If you never try, you lose anyway. So it's better to try than to be third like a loser. I don't like to stay passive. I like to hurt the others and to make them suffer. They have to deserve the win.
"I rode to win this race, and I left every single drop of energy that I had on this road," Longo Borghini said. "I really wanted the rainbow jersey, but I'm also satisfied because I really gave everything."
Not only was Longo Borghini in pursuit of the leaders, but she also was trying to fend off elite time trial world champion Marlen Reusser (Switzerland), who was coming up quickly from behind in the final kilometre.
"I wanted to ride myself empty and catch their wheels, but it was impossible," Longo Borghini said. "It was just like 100 meters too much for me, and I also knew that Marlen was coming back, so I was like, 'Defend yourself as much as you can, Elisa, because you earned this third place. You didn't lose it. You really won it'."
Always a rider to race with emotion, Longo Borghini was motivated by a special purpose in her efforts.
"I think as an athlete, you have the duty to give emotion to people and to inspire people," she said. "Today, I really wanted to show the grit of the Italians is there, and that women's cycling is nice to watch and to follow."
Having raced the individual time trial and mixed relay team time trial, Longo Borghini was suffering from tendinitis in her right knee, and that led to cramps in her other leg as she had been compensating for the pain. As she was being caught on the climb, she was telling herself, "It's better you slow down a little bit, otherwise next year, you're still here and they have to come and grab you on the road," she joked.
"Then Demi and Kasia passed me, and I couldn't really get on their wheel. And from there on, it was a chase. I did believe I could come back at some point, but five seconds were quite a lot, to be honest. And then I had also to defend my position because Marlen was coming back quite strongly, but [it is] definitely a bronze medal that has a lot of value for me.
"I think [Demi] was convinced to go solo to the final, and she was a bit surprised when we came back. I'd say that today Kasia and I were really strong, and we were determined to come back to her, so we did. Demi was the strongest today, and she won the race, so I have a lot of respect for what she did. She showed that she's the deserved world champion, and she will wear the rainbow jersey with pride."
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