Trofeo Alfredo Binda - live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 2022 Trofeo Alfredo Binda!

Binda is the third round of the Women's WorldTour after Strade Bianche, won by Lotte Kopecky of Team SD Worx, and Ronde van Drenthe, won by Lorena Wiebes of Team DSM. Neither rider is on the startlist for today. 

The race was established in 1974 making it the oldest one-day race on the women's WorldTour calendar.  

The peloton will cover 141.8km around the hilly roads of Lombardy, including one large loop of 71km before hitting the 17km finishing lap, to be raced four times. 

For a full preview, including route details and contenders click here.

Last year's edition was won in dominant style by Elisa Longo Borghini of Trek-Segafredo who is local to the area. It was her second win here at Trofeo Alfredo Binda - can she pull it off for a third time today? 

Both Marianne Vos and Maria Canins have the most wins at this race with four editions. Jumbo-Visma have confirmed that Vos is out with a cold so unfortunately will not be racing today. Nor will another pre-race favourite, Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon//SRAM, who won the race in 2018. 

Here is the full startlist 

The riders have rolled out for the neutral start 

One rider has 1'12" on the peloton 

127km to go

The riders are now heading towards the first GPM of the day, Caldana.

The rider in front is Gulnaz Khatuntseva of Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad, her lead is now just under one minute 

The pace is high as the peloton go through the first intermediate sprint 

Alessia Vigilia of Top Girls Fassa Bortolo and Michaela Drummond of Bepink have joined Khatuntseva and the trio now have a 1'30" lead

Vetorello takes the intermediate sprint in Grantola 

With an hour of racing done, the average speed so far is 39,2km/h.

Just under 100km to go

The three leaders in heading up the climb 

After an attack from Drummond and some loss of cohesion in the front group, the trio's gap is now down to just 35 seconds 

⚠️ The race has been neutralised due to a car accident blocking the road ahead

85km to go

The vehicles involved in the accident are not part of the race. At this stage, it's unclear how long it might take for the race to restart. Hopefully those involved are okay.

To reiterate: after52km of racing the race has been neutralised due to a car accident between two vehicles that are not part of the race 

It is understood that the riders will be sent down an alternative route in order to continue the race 

The riders are now descending slowly from Brinzio

This detour will add an additional 8km to the race distance. When they restart, the three leaders will be given their 30 second advantage again. 

The race has not yet restarted. The peloton will skip Orino on the long loop but it is being reported that there will be no changes to the final 4 laps over Casale and Orino later on, although there is no confirmation of this yet. 

The race is back on! The three leaders, Khatuntseva, Drummond, and Vettorello have been given 30 seconds again 

The race will approach Cittiglio from a different route before completing the four laps of the circuit 

The three leaders now have a gap of 1 minute and 30 seconds 

We are onto the final circuit which the peloton will complete 4 times 

70km to go

QOM:

1. Drummond

2. Khatunseva

3. Vettorello

The three leaders now have 1'50" 

The three riders' lead is down to 40 seconds 

Mikayla Harvey of Canyon//SRAM has attacked and is making an attempt to bridge to the three leaders 

Drummond is now solo at the front of the race 

SD Worx are taking charge at the front of the peloton 

The race is now on the descent towards Cittiglio

Drummond's lead is now down to 11 seconds 

Drummond has been caught 

Jumbo-Visma come to the front 

Amanda Spratt is up towards the front, the Australian rider is coming back to form after having illiac artery endofibrosis surgery. 

The WorldTour teams are all amassing at the front as the pace increases 

50km to go

The peloton are on the Casale climb

Brodie Chapman (FDJ) attacks 

Anna Shackley (SD Worx), Soraya Palladin (Canyon//SRAM), Amanda Spratt (Team BikeExchange), Shirin van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo), Brodie Chapman (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope), Karlijn Swinkels (Jumbo Visma), Erica Magnaldi (UAE), and Paula Andrea Patiño (Movistar) have an 11 second lead  

Team DSM, who have missed the move, are on the front of the bunch behind 

Attack from Liane Lippert followed by Elise Chabbey and Elisa Longo Borghini, and they catch the leading group

All together as they approach the top of the Orino climb

The pace has slowed considerably in the final few hundred metres of the climb. Swiss Champion Marlen Reusser of SD Worx is on the front and takes maximum QOM points by default. 

Another attack from an FDJ rider 

The attack has created splits on the flat roads around Azzio. The bunch are all lined out. 

40km to go

The bunch are all together with EF Education Tibco SVB on the front 

Marlen Reusser attacks on the descent towards Cittiglio with Anna Henderson of Jumbo Visma on her wheel

The peloton has split as a result of Henderson and Reusser's attack

The pace has slowed as they start the third of four laps 

Pauliena Rooijakkers of Canyon//SRAM attacks as the peloton start the Casale climb 

Rooijakkers' attack was neutralised by Reusser of SD Worx and now Magnaldi of UAE attacks 

31km to go

Magnaldi has a gap on the descent 

Magnaldi has a small gap of just under 10 seconds and there is no concerted chase behind just yet 

Jumbo Visma are amassed at the front controlling the peloton 

Magnaldi has a gap of 16 seconds 

An effort from Marie Le Net of FDJ had brought Magnaldi's lead back to 5 seconds 

Magnaldi is caught 

Attack from Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ)

Uttrup Ludwig has 8 seconds 

Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) goes in pursuit of Uttrup Ludwig on the descent 

Reusser in fact caught Uttrup Ludwig on the descent and is the solo leader with a 6 second gap to the chase group 

20km to go

Reusser is a very strong time triallist, she took the silver medal in Tokyo, so the peloton need to be wary of giving her too much of a lead 

Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ), and Elise Chabbey (Canyon//SRAM) are chasing Reusser. 

Reusser has 11 seconds on the peloton and 7 seconds on the chasing group of three 

Longo Borghini, Chabbey, and Uttrup Ludwig have joined Reusser at the front 

The group of four have a 13 second gap 

The group are working well together so far and their gap has extended to 20 seconds 

Trek Segafredo and SD Worx are neutralising attacks from behind 

Chabbey is expressing her frustration at the rest of the group as they stop cooperating meaning they are just 10 seconds ahead of the bunch now and will likely be caught 

The group have been caught at the bottom of the Casale climb

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio of SD Worx attacks 

The race is still all together over the top of the climb 

The final ascent of Orino is coming up - this will be the last chance for the climbers to attack

Both Coryn Labecki and Elisa Balsamo are in the group still, if they make it over the final ascent of Orino they will be favourites for a reduced bunch kick 

All together heading into the Orino climb  

Another attack from Marta Cavalli of FDJ followed by Juliette Labous of DSM, and Moolman Pasio of SD Worx

10km to go

Elisa Longo Borghini neutralises the move with 2km to go to the top of the climb 

Moolman Pasio attacks again for SD Worx

Attack from Liane Lippert of Team DSM with Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig on her wheel 

A small group has gone clear in the final few hundred metres of the climb including Lippert, Moolman Pasio, and Uttrup Ludwig 

Also there are Mavi Garcia of UAE and Chantal van den Broek Blaak of SD Worx

With 7km to go can this group of 6 make it to the line? 

The onus is on Jumbo Visma and Trek Segafredo to chase for their sprinters Labecki and Balsamo 

The lead group are now on the descent and have a gap of 10 seconds 

The group are caught and van den Broek Blaak attacks 

Italian national champion Elisa Longo Borghini is driving the pace at the front 

Trek Segafredo look to be setting things up for Balsamo as they keep the pace high to deter others from attacking 

Shirin van Anrooij now takes up the pace-setting for Trek

2.4km to go

Marlen Reusser attempts to attack again but is quickly neutralised by Elisa Longo Borghini 

SD Worx now take up the front of the peloton 

It's going to be a sprint! 

Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) takes the win! 🌈

Excellent teamwork and a perfectly-timed sprint from the world champion in her second win of the season and fourth podium

It's an all-Italian podium with Sofia Bertizzolo of UAE in second and Soraya Palladin of Canyon//SRAM in third 

Top-10:

1 Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 3:26:29
2 Sofia Bertizzolo (Ita) UAE Team ADQ
3 Soraya Paladin (Ita) Canyon-Sram
4 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Ned) SD Worx
5 Elena Cecchini (Ita) SD Worx
6 Coryn Labecki (USA) Jumbo-Visma
7 Elise Chabbey (Swi) Canyon-Sram
8 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
9 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ-Nouvelle Acquitaine-Futuroscope
10 Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (RSA) SD Worx

Balsamo celebrating with her teammate and compatriot Elisa Longo Borghini after the race.

And here's the final podium – the world champion on top ahead of Bertizzolo and Paladin.

Check out our full report on the day's action here