For Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), the month of April has been a series of ups and downs. With a solo win at Dwars door Vlaanderen, she ‘took revenge’ for being caught within sight of the finish in Milan-San Remo, then she crashed out of the Tour of Flanders and had to skip Paris-Roubaix Femmes because of a concussion.
Returning at the Brabantse Pijl, Longo Borghini took another solo victory before being out of the fight for the win at the Amstel Gold Race, where a strong break went all the way. At the Flèche Wallonne Femmes, the Italian Champion finished third for the second time in a row.
On the steep slopes of the Mur de Huy, Longo Borghini was the only one to stay on the wheels of eventual winner Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and runner-up Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) all the way until 150 metres to go. That's when Pieterse’s race-winning attack distanced her.
On the last metres, Longo Borghini grit her teeth and pushed hard to just hold off 2024 winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) for third place.
"I’m definitely happy with my race, also because I’m here with a new team, UAE Team ADQ, so I’m really happy to make the jersey shine on the podium," said Longo Borghini after the race.
"Surely, we came here for the victory, but after you give it 110% and this is the outcome, you cannot blame yourself for anything. I blew up a little bit in the last 150m, but overall I felt very good.”
Having moved to UAE Team ADQ for 2025 after six seasons with Trek-Segafredo (now Lidl-Trek), Longo Borghini was happy with the team’s support.
“I want to thank all my teammates because they did an amazing job. We have two very young riders [Alena Ivanchenko and Maëva Squiban], and they were very strong, plus Brodie [Chapman], Erica [Magnaldi], Greta [Marturano] were very strong,” she said.
Considering her reputation as a steady climber who doesn’t like changes in speed, the podium placing on a finish that doesn’t suit her filled Longo Borghini with confidence ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the final Spring Classic.
“Flèche Wallonne is such a punchy finish that it does not suit my characteristics, but Liege is more of a race that is demanding, a long race, I'm really looking forward to that,” the 33-year-old looked ahead to Sunday already.
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