Sprint for second place taken by Kopecky ahead of Brand at Roubaix Velodrome finish
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Solo victory at 2022 Paris-Roubaix Femmes for Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Elisa Longo Borghini shows her strength with the victory at Paris-Roubix Femmes(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
Rolling across the line at Roubaix velodrome for second place is Lotte Kopecky(Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) heads to final cobbled sector as lone leader(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Elisa Longo Borghini of Trek-Segafredo strikes out alone on one of final cobbled sectors(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Peloton on dry, dusty day at Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2022(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) in front of Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) in the breakaway passing through a cobblestones sector (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Trio in breakaway before 30km to go are Lucinda Brand of (Trek-Segafredo), Lotte Kopecky of (Team SD Worx) and Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) took over the race lead and had a small gap with 25km to go(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Chasers with 17km to go with Chantal Van Den Broek-Blaak of Team SD Worx driving the pace (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Peloton kicks up dust on 124.7km race(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
Elise Chabbey of Canyon-SRAM Racing is part of the chase(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Pfeiffer Georgi of Team DSM competes passing through a cobblestones sector(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Chantal Van Den Broek-Blaak of Team SD Worx in chase mode(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Front of the peloton on a cobbled section(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
World Champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) at the beginning of Paris-Roubaix Femmes(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
World Champion Elisa Balsamo is told by staff in Trek-Segafredo car that she has been disqualified for holding a 'sticky bottle' too long(Image credit: Etienne Garnier/PoolGetty Image)
Lotte Kopecky talks to SD Worx teammate Chantal Van Den Broek-Blaak, perhaps comparing notes on how hands take a beating on the cobbles (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) exchanges congratulations with Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) at finish(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Lotte Kopecky takes second place at the line over Lucinda Brand(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Focus of media at the finish is on winner Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Clara Honsinger (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) rests at finish(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Final podium (L to R): Lotte Kopecky of Team SD Worx on second place, race winner Elisa Longo Borghini of Trek - Segafredo holds up her Cobbleston trophy and Lucinda Brand of Trek - Segafredo on third place(Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
Race winner Elisa Longo Borghini of Trek - Segafredo holds up her Cobbleston trophy with Lotte Kopecky in second (left) and Lucinda Brand in third(Image credit: Sprint Cycling Agency)
The women's peloton tackled 17 sectors for 29.2km of cobbles (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Start of the race under sunny skies for 124.7km(Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
Katie Clouse ( Human Powered Health) rides at front of breakaway, ahead of Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB)(Image credit: Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency)
Tanja Erath (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) rides at front of early break(Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
Early breakaway included Leonie Bos of Team Parkhotel Valkenburg, Amalie Lutro of Uno-X Women Cycling Team, Tanja Erath of Team EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and Katie Clouse of Human Powered Health(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Team SD Worx at the start in Denain(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
Jumbo-Visma presented prior to the start of Paris-Roubaix Femmes(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
Elisa Balsamo (right) stands next to Trek-Segafredo teammate Lucinda Brand prior to the race start(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
Ellen Van Dijk of Trek-Segafredo talks to media prior to the race start(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
Elisa Longo Borghini in the colours as Italian road champion(Image credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin of Team Cofidis Feminin and Letizia Borghesi of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB involved in a crash(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin of Canada and Team Cofidis Feminin reacts after crash(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Crossing the line just off the podium are Elise Chabbey (center) of Canyon-SRAM Racing Team, and to her left Marta Cavalli of FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope and Floortje Mackaij of Team DSM(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Trek-Segafredo teammates celebrate at the finish, a fist pump from Ellen Van Dijk for Elisa Longo Borghini(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
A special cobblestone for Elisa Longo Borghini(Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) won the second edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift with a long solo attack.
After a front group of three, with Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx), Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ) and Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo), was caught with 34 km to go, Longo Borghini counter-attacked and got away on the Templeuve cobblestone sector.
The Italian champion gradually extended her advantage over the chasing group, leading by 41 seconds with 12km to go. Although the chase came closer in the final, Longo Borghini fought back and could celebrate in the Roubaix velodrome, winning 23 seconds ahead of Kopecky, who beat Brand in the sprint for second place.
“It is just an unbelievable feeling. It has been a very tough spring for me, I had sinusitis for a month and could not perform the way I wanted. I knew I was worth more than what I was performing, and it was also a little bit frustrating," explained Longo Borghini at the finish.
"It was a hard time, but I need to thank my family, my boyfriend Jacopo [Mosca], my mum, my dad, and my nieces for their trust, they always keep my morale up, and I want to thank Trek-Segafredo because they still had faith in me.
“They brought me here, and I was like ‘I don’t think I’m ready’, and they kept saying ‘you are more than ready, we know you can do it’, and I have to say that they were right. With the sinusitis, I could not breathe, and in cycling, breathing is everything. I had to take one step back in order to take two steps forward; I skipped Amstel and Brabantse Pijl and took a course of antibiotics to get rid of the infection. And in the end, if I feel good, I win,” the winner smiled.
How it unfolded
The 124.7-kilometre Paris-Roubaix Femmes started in Denain with four local laps before tackling 17 cobblestone sectors for a total of 29.2 kilometres of pavé on the way to the Roubaix Velodrome.
An early breakaway of five riders fell apart on sector 17 (counting downwards to the finish), with only Tanja Erath (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), Amalie Lutro (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team), and Gaia Masetti (AG Insurance-NXTG) staying in front. A puncture on sector 15 stopped Masetti, and shortly afterwards Lutro was also dropped by Erath.
The German continued on her own until she was caught by the peloton, which had about 40 riders with 61 kilometres to go. In this phase, several favourites like Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team), Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Ellen Van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo), and Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) suffered mechanicals but all returned to the peloton eventually.
On sector 12, Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée, Kopecky attacked with Bastianelli in her wheel. Brand bridged to this front duo, and they kept an advantage of 15 to 20 seconds for a long time. Further back, World Champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) punctured, then almost crashed on her chase back. However, Balsamo was disqualified after taking a sticky bottle from her team car.
When Kopecky, Bastianelli, and Brand had been caught, Longo Borghini attacked on a short stretch of tarmac, then used sector 8 to accelerate away from Elena Cecchini (Team SD Worx) and Norsgaard who had followed her. Norsgaard tried to close the gap, but Cecchini would not ride with her, and they eventually dropped back to what remained of the peloton, with Longo Borghini 30 seconds ahead.
On the sector from Cysoing to Bourghelles, SD Worx teammates Kopecky and Van den Broek-Blaak accelerated, leading to a group of eight that closed the gap to 11 seconds but never made the catch. After unsuccessful attacks by Van den Broek-Blaak and Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM), the group stopped riding again, bringing the next group back and increasing Longo Borghini’s advantage again.
On the Carrefour de l’Arbre sector, the last five-star sector of the race, Kopecky set a hard pace from the start and rode everyone off her wheel, but Cavalli quickly closed the gap to the Belgian champion. Longo Borghini was still more than 20 seconds ahead and increased this further on the next kilometres, meaning she had plenty of time to celebrate victory.
There were no attacks from the chase group in the final, and in the track sprint, Kopecky was fastest to take second place ahead of Brand and Cavalli.
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
