Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2025 contenders – Vollering and Van der Breggen return to challenge sprinters

The long-running event of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda – Comune di Cittiglio, which has been one of the most enduring fixtures of the women’s calendar, is set for some changes this year, throwing in some more kilometres with a new start location in Luino for the 26th edition.

That will extend the distance to 152km to the final line in Cittiglio but what won’t change is that the field will be packed with fierce competitors who want to make the most of the opportunity presented by the sixth Women’s WorldTour race of the 2025 season.

Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) will line up at the race as the defending champion, though there will be plenty looking to unseat the Italian, with the shuffling of teams due to the transfers and also return of the retired Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) continuing to create some fascinating and unpredictable racing dynamics. 

The battle between the former sports director and now FDJ-Suez rival Demi Vollering could be one of the key ones to watch, plus that between compatriots and former teammates Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and Balsamo. But of course, there will be plenty more ready and prepared to pursue those top spots. 

Cyclingnews has run the rule over the likely starters and picked out the contenders, though be warned that a start list has yet to be released, so there could be some changes before race day. Here are some of the key riders who have the potential to be vying for the top spots on March 16.

Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)

Elisa Balsamo is not only returning as defending champion, having added the 2024 victory to her 2022 win by charging to the line ahead of Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx Protime), but also returns as a key rider for the team who has won four editions in a row. Not since 2019, when Marianne Vos claimed victory, has another squad got to celebrate on the line with Shirin van Anrooij and Elisa Longo Borghini taking the other two wins for the team. 

This year, however, Balsamo will have a compatriot as a rival rather than ally after Longo Borghini moved to UAE Team ADQ. The 27-year-old Lidl-Trek rider will no doubt be hoping that the race that is sometimes taken by a solo victor and other times in a reduced group sprint will once again allow her to utilise her finishing speed.

Balsamo has already made good use of it this season, winning two stages of the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana last month, and she is bound to be the rider the team supports to try and make it five in a row in Cittiglio if a bunch comes toward the line. Her proven speed, however, will ensure many rivals will be trying to work toward a different scenario.

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ)

Elisa Longo Borghini has already won Trofeo Alfredo Binda twice, once with Lidl-Trek in 2021 and for the first time in 2013, when she claimed a wet edition of the race that passes near home territory to take one of her first top-level victories while racing with Hitec. In the bid to make it a third, it's probably a matter of when, not if, Longo Borghini will go on the attack given her last two victories were solo efforts.

The 33-year-old has started the season strongly, claiming a stage and overall victory at the first event with her new team, the UAE Tour Women. Strade Bianche, however, didn’t go to plan as Longo Borghini fell ill during the race. Still, if the recovery is quick, that will perhaps deliver even more motivation to make the most of the next opportunity.

Also, while Lidl-Trek’s strength at the race is indisputable, Longo Borghini’s new squad (UAE Team ADQ) also has shown considerable strength. The riders that will be around Longo Borghini at the race are yet to be confirmed, but there are several solid support options to choose from, given the team had both Silvia Persico and Karlijn Swinkels in the top eight last year.

Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez)

Demi Vollering hasn’t raced Trofeo Alfredo Binda since 2019, when she lined up for Parkhotel Valkenburg to take on what was back then her first Women’s WorldTour race, finishing within the top 20. Much has transpired in the seasons since, from many monumental wins including the Tour de France Femmes and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, to a team shift that has sent waves through the peloton. 

Like Elisa Longo Borghini, Vollering is likely to be on the attack, with her chances best if she can shake off the fast finishers and make it another year for the solo victor.

There will be no doubting she has the form to pull it off, not given the way her second Strade Bianche victory played out on Saturday. Plus Evita Muzic, who finished 12th at Strade Bianche and ninth at this race last year, is likely to be a handy teammate to have by her side.

Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime)

Strade Bianche was the first Women’s WorldTour race in more than three years for Anna van der Breggen and her second place behind Vollering has clearly cast aside any doubt over whether she would stack up on her return. The fact that she has so quickly stepped up to the plate means that even though Trofeo Alfredo Binda isn’t a race that she already has on her extensive palmarès, with third her best finish, she has earned her place on the list of contenders. 

Another rider who will be looking to cast aside the rivals by going on the attack, a key road block could once again be Vollering, who up until the end of last year, Van der Breggen was overseeing as a sports director.

After the race Van der Breggen said: "We know each other really well. She is such a strong rider, and I know what she can do, but she knows what I can do as well. At one point, I need to find a way [to beat her].” Trofeo Alfredo Binda could offer another opportunity to try.

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)

Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto come to this race slightly depleted with would-be leader Kasia Niewiadoma pulling out after her Strade Bianche crash, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have options. The absence of Niewiadoma could pave the way for new signing Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig to take a leading role for the first time this season. 

Though the Dane has had a fairly quiet start to her first season on the German team, this could be a race where she shines, as it’s somewhere she knows how to perform – she’s finished third on three occasions, and finished in the top 10 the last five times she’s raced Binda.

The added difficulty stemming from the extra lap and therefore climbing should play into Uttrup Ludwig’s abilities, and with strong supporters like Soraya Paladin, Antonia Niedermaier and Ricarda Bauernfeind, she looks in a good position to step into the gap left by Niewiadoma. If she can make the final selection, the punchy Dane should be a real threat.

Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic-PostNL)

Pfeiffer Georgi is one rider who will be hoping the race victory is up for grabs from a reduced bunch, with the British national champion last year capitalising on her finishing speed to take fifth in a reduced bunch scenario. The 24-year-old has already started the season with a top ten overall at the UAE Tour and seventh at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad at the start of the month.

Still, if the reduced bunch sprint scenario doesn't play into Georgi's hands, the team also has other bases covered with Marta Cavalli and Nienke Vinke. "We also have the firepower to make the race harder with our climbers," said Picnic PostNL coach Callum Ferguson in a team statement. "It’s all about reading the race and playing our cards at the right moment."

Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease A Bike)

The Italian race marks the beginning of the 2025 road season for Marianne Vos, after she returned to cyclocross over the winter. Her off-road season, however, was cut short when she crashed and sustained a calf injury at Hoogerheide near the end of January, causing her to set aside her plans to race the World Championships in the discipline.

Vos said in an Instagram post last month that things were "moving in the right direction", the race itch was kicking in and her season would begin with the March 16 race. It is an event that Vos has raced nine times, winning in her first three participations and then again in 2019, while she finished second in 2021.

It may be just the first road race of the year for Vos, but she has been training at altitude. With her record and voracious winning appetite, none of her rivals will rest easy if she gets a sniff of victory.

Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck)

Yara Kastelijn finished 14th at Trofeo Alfredo Binda last year, but it was Puck Pieterse who led the way for Fenix-Deceuninck, taking third. This year, however, could present an opportunity for the 27-year-old who put on an extremely strong show of form at Strade Bianche. Despite working for Pieterse, Kastelijn crossed the line in sixth, just ahead of her teammate. 

A stage winner at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes, Kastelijn had a tough run through the final stages of the 2024 season, sitting out the racing through the last part of the year after crashes at the French Grand Tour left her with lingering concussion symptoms.

However, she was back to cyclocross mid-December and with a start to the year on the road that has only once seen her finish outside the top 20, the signs are good that the winter reboot has worked its magic.

Honorable mentions

• Mavi Garcia (Liv-AlUla-Jayco)
• Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
• Thalita de Jong (Human Powered Health)
• Nienke Vinke (Picnic-PostNL)
• Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly)