The world cycling elite went through a minor revolution last year with the inaugural edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, which became the pivotal event of the season in no time flat. With the second edition just around the corner, six riders open up about their experience last July.
Longo Borghini: “The Frenchies are real cycling lovers”
Trek-Segafredo have been among the most powerful squads of the peloton for years, but you won't see these colours anymore. The team just became Lidl-Trek, with a flamboyant jersey unveiled this week and expected to shine at the highest level in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2023... But it won't be Elisa Longo Borghini displaying these new colours - the Italian star just claimed two new national champion titles, in the road race and in the individual time trial, earning the right to wear the green, white and red tricolore jersey in every stage of the coming Tour, all the way to the final showdown in Pau, as this year's edition ends with a race against the clock. And she’s a strong favorite to swap her kit for the distinctive jerseys of the Tour. After her aggressive tactics landed her a position of 6th in last year's event ("I learned not to be alone on a valley with headwind", she laughs), the winner of ParisRoubaix Femmes avec Zwift 2022 dreams of claiming a podium result in the Tour. And she feels "ready for the next challenges". Watch out!
Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek)
Born in Verbania (Italy) on 10 December 1991
Teams
Top Girls Fassa Bortolo (2011), Hitec Products (2012-2014), Wiggle Honda (2015), Wiggle High5 (2016-2018), Trek-Segafredo (2019-June 2023), Lidl-Trek (since June 2023)
Major results
- 2012: 3rd of the world championships and the GP de Plouay-Bretagne
- 2013: winner of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, 2 nd of La Flèche Wallonne Femmes
- 2014: ITT Italian champion, winner of the Tour de Bretagne and the Trophée d’Or, 3 rd of La Flèche Wallonne Femmes
- 2015: winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, La Route de France and the Giro dell’Emilia
- 2016: ITT Italian champion, 3 rd of the Olympic Games, the European Championships and Women’s Tour, winner of the Giro dell’Emilia
- 2017: Italian champion (road race and ITT), winner of the Strade Bianche, 2nd of the Giro Donne, 3 rd of La Course by Le Tour de France
- 2018: winner of the Mediterranean Games, 3 rd of Strade Bianche
- 2019: winner of the WWT Emakumeen Bira and the Postnord UCI WWT Vargarda WestSweden TTT
- 2020: Italian champion (road race and ITT), 2 nd of the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta and the European championships, 3 rd of the world championships and the Giro Donne
- 2021: Italian champion (road race and ITT), winner of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and the GP de Plouay, 2 nd of the Strade Bianche, 3 rd of La Flèche Wallonne Femmes, Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift and the Olympic Games
- 2022: ITT Italian champion, winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, the Women’s Tour, Giro dell’Emilia and Tre Valli Varesine, 2 nd of the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta
- 2023: Italian champion (road race and ITT), winner of the UAE Tour, 2 nd of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, 3rd of Ronde van Vlaanderen and Tour de Suisse
Signature trait:
Elisa Longo Borghini is known to give some of the best quotes in the world of cycling. Her words can be inspiring - “It’s like going through Dantesque hell, and all of a sudden you’re in paradise”, she said after her triumph in Roubaix - or funny - “death” is the next step when one puts salad in risotto. Anyway, it’s always a delight to listen to the Italian champion.
You just finished on the podium of the Tour de Suisse and won the two events of your national championships. How do you rate your return to competition?
Actually, I’m very happy with my bounce back after a very hard spring and a well needed break. After Liège, I got sick again, I had a week of really strong stomach problems. Then I went together with my boyfriend, Jacopo [Mosca, also part of Lidl-Trek], in Sestrières to rebuild some base training and to do some good hours in altitude. And then I went with the team in San Pellegrino, still in altitude. We were five riders with Broadie Chapman, Gaia Realini, Amanda Spratt and Shirin van Anrooij. I was there from the 25th of May until the 11th of June, working more on intensity, focusing on the high zones to get ready for racing. Now I got some good results and I can be satisfied. It’s been a tough journey to come back to my level but I’m finally there and I’m ready for the next challenges.
What are the plans from now until the Tour?
The Giro is my next race. We will have a very strong team and we’ll see in the upcoming days what we will do, who will be the leader and so on. I’m ready for either choice, being the leader or assisting the team. My condition is good, I feel good, so I’m ready for anything they ask me to do. And in the Tour, I’m going for the GC. It’s the biggest goal of the calendar so far.
And you will be the first rider to wear the Italian champion jersey in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, since Elisa Balsamo had the rainbow jersey last year…
It’s really important for me, indeed. I think the tricolore is one of the most recognisable champion jerseys and we all know the Frenchies are real cycling lovers. They recognise the rider wearing the tricolore, and even if they don’t know their name, they will cheer for the national champions. It’s a good feeling to have this jersey and I’m really happy to show it around France.
"From the very beginning, we could feel the Tour de France was the event of the women's cycling calendar"
You saw last year what it meant for Audrey Cordon Ragot to race the Tour as the French national champion… How much of an impact did the event have on you and your teammates?
To be honest, I would have really liked to feel what Audrey lived last year. It must be really special for a French rider to wear the tricolour jersey in the Tour de France. And for me, personally, it was overwhelming, it was incredible, with a lot of crowds, a lot of media attention, and it was a really big event. From the very beginning, we could feel that this was the event of the women’s cycling calendar. I think it will stand in that position for a long time. The Tour is the Tour, we all know that.
You often talk about the importance of the team in cycling. What do you want the spirit to be for Lidl-Trek at the start of the Tour?
I would like to have a team that is really motivated to go full for a GC result, whatever comes out, and also a team that is tough, going into every stage with a winning mindset. This is what I really would like to have.
"If I am on the podium of the Tour de France, I am a very happy cyclist!"
Have you done some specific work for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2023?
I went and I did a recon of the stage of the Tourmalet, with Col d’Aspin, the downhill and the summit finish. And then I went to Pau and we rode the time trial, which was very familiar, because I recognised La Course from 2019 [she was 6th]. I was really glad to see these two stages. They’re really important, especially the time trial can be crucial if you’re fighting for a podium or even a top 10. You can be tired or very performant on the day after the Tourmalet.
You’ve been on the podium of the Olympics, the Worlds, the Giro, Roubaix, Trofeo Alfredo Binda… What would it mean to be on the podium of the Tour?
Surely, it’s a dream for me. If I am on the podium of the Tour de France, I am a very happy cyclist! It would be one of the most prestigious results that I could have in my record. But I also know there are many other strong girls out there fighting for the podium. So I can only say that I would like to be at the Tour in my best possible shape and to fight for the podium. Then, whoever makes it to the podium will deserve it.
Races are facing different challenges… What kind of reference does the Tour represent?
The Tour de France can be an example for every other stage race in the calendar but it also has a really important impact on women's cycling and society. Every time you say you're a cyclist, people think of the Tour de France. So they ask us: 'Do you do the Tour de France?' And finally we can say: 'Yes, I'm riding the Tour and it will be from this day until this day'... It has an impact, for sure, because the Tour de France is an event that everybody knows. I would like to have the Champs-Élysées every year, because it’s iconic... But I’m really happy with what we got so far.
