In her first race for Trek-Segafredo, Gaia Realini showed the climbing prowess that netted her a three-year contract with the women’s WorldTour squad and set-up overall victory in the UAE Tour Women race.
The minuscule 21-year-old Italian climber rode the peloton off her wheel on the Jebel Hafeet climb and then continued to set the pace for her teammate Elisa Longo Borghini, who went on to win the stage with Realini beside her. Longo Borghini took the leader’s jersey, with Realini now second overall at just seven seconds.
Realini and everyone at Trek-Segafredo were ecstatic with her performance and the team’s results.
“Today was a very hard day, for me it was an incredible day, the first year in this big team, the first race this year, and this result – that’s very, very good. Elisa and I had a good rhythm on the climb, it was a big day for the team,” Realini said.
Having raced mainly cyclo-cross in her junior years and her first U23 season, Realini was picked up by Italian Continental team Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria for 2021 and 2022. At the age of 20, she made herself known as a talented climber at the Giro Donne, finishing sixth in Prato Nevoso and 11th on Monte Matajur on the way to 11th overall and second in the Under 23 classification.
Realini performed even better at the 2022 Giro Donne. Although the results sheet says otherwise, with 13th place overall as the third-best U23 rider, Realini was much more visible than the year, finishing seventh at Prato Nevoso on stage 7 and going on a long-range breakaway with Kristen Faulkner (then Team BikeExchange-Jayco) on stage 9.
Realini lead much of the way up the Passo Daone, the Cima Coppi of the race, but was eventually dropped by Faulkner who went on to win the stage while Realini finished in fifth place.
Trek-Segafredo had already been in talks with the young Italian climber before the Giro Donne, and in mid-August, Realini was announced as a new signing by the team.
At the time, Realini referred to Longo Borghini as her role model and point of reference. Six months later Realini and Longo Borghini lined up for a race in the same jersey for the first time.
For the first time since she was sixteen, Realini missed the cyclo-cross season to focus fully on her road training and preparing for her first full Women’s WorldTour season.
On the Jebel Hafeet, Realini quickly cut the group of favourites to half its previous size and then at the five-kilometre to go mark, only Longo Borghini was left in her wheel.
Realini clearly enjoyed the day, her smiles to the camera belying the effort she put in, distancing the rest of the race by at least a minute.
Longo Borghini explained the emotions and eventual team tactics in her post-race interview.
“We were a little bit enthusiastic, especially Gaia. She’s really enthusiastic, and she was really into this game. At one point she said: ‘I want to cry’. She is an incredible bike rider, and I’m looking forward to giving this victory back to her,” Longo Borghini said in gratitude after pulling on the leader’s jersey before Sunday’s final flat stage around Abu Dhabi.
