Longo Borghini takes solo win at Trofeo Alfredo Binda

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Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) has won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. The Italian champion attacked during the Orino climb on the penultimate lap, leaving the rest of the race behind and embarking on a 25-kilometre solo move that none of her rivals could follow.

Starting with a gap of only a few seconds, Longo Borghini gradually extended her lead over a chase group of five riders to more than a minute at the top of the Orino climb with 7.5km to go, and could celebrate her victory on the finish line.

Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) won the group sprint for second place, beating Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) into third.

“I know the course well, and the team tactic was to send me on the attack because we also have Lizzie Deignan who is a good sprinter”, explained Longo Borghini after the race.

“When I found myself in front, I thought back to Milano-San Remo yesterday. Jasper Stuyven said ‘all or nothing’. That inspired me, and I thought that sometimes you have to poker. If there is an option to attack, I will always choose to attack.”

How it unfolded

The peloton embarked on the 141.8-kilometre course just after noon. After a 27km stretch from the start in Cocquio Trevisago to the finish line in Cittiglio, the race consisted of one 44.4km loop including the climb to Cunardo, followed by four laps à 17.5 km with a 700-metre, 7.2 per cent climb to Casalzuigno and the longer, more gradual climb to Orino, almost four kilometres at 3.9 per cent.

There were several attacks in the first half of the race, but neither Marta Bastianelli (Alé BTC Ljubljana Cipollini), Pauliena Rooijakkers (Liv Racing), or Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Trek-Segafredo) nor Marlen Reusser (Ale BTC Ljubljana Cipollini) and Marta Jaskulska (Liv Racing) could stay off the front for more than a few kilometres.

Rooijakkers attacked again with Tatiana Guderzo (Alé BTC Ljubljana Cipollini), and the two riders held a 26-second gap with three laps to go. On the Orino climb, this shrank to only five seconds, and Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) as well as Cordon-Ragot made the jump to the front, but the four riders were never more than a few seconds ahead and were caught at the start of the penultimate lap.

Anouska Koster (Team Jumbo-Visma) counter attacked right away, taking Alena Amialiusik (Canyon-SRAM), Reusser, Alison Jackson (Liv Racing), and Katia Ragusa (A.R. Monex) with her. Koster dropped the other four on the Casalzuigno climb, but being only eight seconds ahead after the descent, she was caught with 29km to go.

After a move by Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) had been reeled in on the lower slopes of the Orino climb, Tayler Wiles (Trek-Segafredo) accelerated to string out the peloton. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) attacked with Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Team SD Worx), Longo Borghini, and Uttrup Ludwig on her wheel, and Longo Borghini countered with another attack that split the group.

Uttrup Ludwig and Vos tried to close the gap but eventually had to let the Italian champion go, and Longo Borghini had a five-second advantage over Uttrup Ludwig, Vos, Soraya Paladin (Liv Racing), and Margarita Victoria García (Alé BTC Ljubljana Cipollini) at the top of the climb.

Niewiadoma bridged to the chase group on the descent, but with one lap to go, Longo Borghini had established a 16-second gap on the five-woman chase group and almost a minute on the peloton. Over the Casalzuigno climb, the Italian champion extended her lead to 29 seconds and 1:30 minutes, respectively, as there was no real cooperation in the chase.

When Longo Borghini crested the Orino 1:07 minutes ahead of the chase, her victory was assured, and she finished the race solo. 1:42 minutes later, Vos won the group sprint for second place, with Uttrup Ludwig in third. Elisa Balsamo sprinted to seventh place from the peloton, 2:46 minutes back.

After her second place in Strade Bianche two weeks earlier, Longo Borghini’s victory also puts her into the purple UCI Women’s WorldTour leader’s jersey. Sarah Gigante, 23rd in the race, leads the Women’s WorldTour youth ranking.