Longo Borghini's race-winning Trek Domane - 'The perfect bike for Paris-Roubaix'
All the details of Italian champion’s unreleased Domane, which she claims was the perfect weapon to win the race
Elisa Longo Borgini (Trek-Segafredo) credited the technical work behind the development of her race-winning bike, a new hitherto unseen Trek Domane, when discussing her win at the second edition of Paris-Roubaix.
On the morning of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the public and journalists had the first glimpse of a bike that had been designed specifically with this race in mind, an impressively well-kept secret by one of the world’s largest bike brands.
The new Trek Domane clearly shows considerable departures from the previous iteration of the bike, which was ridden by Lizzie Deignan when she won the very first edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes last year. That means that Trek can claim a clean sweep in the history of the women’s edition of the race so far.
“Honestly I think we have the best bike for this type of race, the Domane is designed specifically for this type of race,” Longo Borghini said at a press conference following the race. “The equipment makes a huge difference, we have tested the materials in terms of performing the best in the race.
“We have the technical stuff, we have put a lot of work into it, and I’m thankful for them. It’s such a world we don't see, and it isn’t highlighted. But it’s really important for us, as they're trying to give us the best bike. And they did.
“The Domane is the perfect bike for Roubaix.”
Into the detail
As we reported when we first saw the new Trek Domane at the start of the women’s race, the new Domane appears to have eliminated much of the progressive tech in the last generation of the bike.
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The front IsoSpeed suspension system is gone, along with the adjustable slider for the rear IsoSpeed, and the bike's seatmast has also been replaced with a more conventional seatpost.
The front-end of the bike is much more reminiscent of the Trek Madone, with a deep headtube section leading back to a bulky aerodynamic downtube, suggesting the bike is focussing on a combination of aerodynamic performance and comfort.
The frame appears to be made from 800 Series OCLV carbon fibre, in line with the latest generation of Trek Madone SLR, while the storage unit below the bottle cage mounts appears to have been removed.
The bike bears Project One markings, suggesting these bikes will be offered as part of Trek's custom build program.
Elisa’s bike was set up as a 1x setup with a Sram Red AXS groupset, sporting a large 52-tooth front chainring, alongside what we expect was a 10-36 rear cassette.
She rode on tubeless Pirelli P Zero Race tyres, 30mm in width, and on Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37V Tubeless wheels.
Borgini used a Wahoo Elmnt head unit, sporting an endearing prawn sticker. We can only assume the second-ever Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner is a fan of sushi.
We await official details of the new Trek Domane, and we look forward to hearing about how the bike was developed to deliver two Trek-Segafredo riders to this year’s podium.
Peter Stuart has been the editor of Cyclingnews since March 2022, overseeing editorial output across all of Cyclingnews' digital touchpoints.
Before joining Cyclingnews, Peter was the digital editor of Rouleur magazine. Starting life as a freelance feature writer, with bylines in The Times and The Telegraph, he first entered cycling journalism in 2012, joining Cyclist magazine as staff writer. Peter has a background as an international rower, representing Great Britain at Under-23 level and at the Junior Rowing World Championships.