Longo Borghini wins third Italian women's road title

Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) retained her Italian Road Race title with a late solo attack in Castellana Grotte. 

Tatiana Guderzo (Ale BTC Ljubljana) won the sprint for second, from a small group that finished around ten seconds behind Borghini, while Ilaria Sanguineti (Valcar-Travel & Service) was third.

Borghini launched her move on the final climb of the day, and went clear from a small group to take victory.

The attack was the last of multiple attempts to go clear from the peloton. She made a move with Soraya Paladin (Liv Racing) on a climb around 25km from the finish, only to be caught a few kilometres later, and that same pair were again unsuccessful with another try closer to the finish.

Borghini’s final attempt did succeed, however, meaning she will once again wear the tricolore jersey for another twelve months.

This is the third time the 29-year-old has been crowned road race champion, meaning she’s now just one title away from matching Fabiana Luperini’s Italian record.

Having enjoyed such a successful season, during which time her jersey has become synonymous with bold, devastating attacks, Borghini was the favourite for victory today, but she had to shed a handful of other threatening riders who were still with her as the finale approached.

Following her victory in the time trial on Friday, Borghini also doubles up as road and time trial champion for the third time in her career.

She’ll showcase the tricolore jersey at the Giro Rosa next month, where she’ll be hoping to swap the jersey for pink.