Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) thought she had lost the fight for the overall victory of the Women’s Tour after the first intermediate sprint on stage 6, but her team convinced the Italian champion to refocus on the end of the stage. Then a strong teamwork in the final set Longo Borghini to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in a clever sprint to get time bonuses.
Longo Borghini had started stage 6 at the same time as the yellow T-shirt Grace Brown (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), but in the first intermediate sprint, she hurt her sprint and was defeated by Brown, her own Audrey Cordon. -Ragot. and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), putting Longo Borghini three seconds behind Brown.
“I thought, ‘OK, this is the second place, that’s it.’ motivated and they really believe in you, I just wanted to give it all back to them, ”Longo Borghini said.
The Trek-Segafredo team had watched the arrival before the stage and knew there was a chance for the 30-year-old Italian to regain the three-second disadvantage.
“We knew the final was quite technical and we studied it this morning [director] Ina Teutenberg. That’s also why in the end I think everyone thought I could do it around the corners. But again, I have to thank my Trek-Segafredo team, “said Longo Borghini.
“Lizzie [Deignan] He sent me a nice message yesterday and told me that he remembers my sprint in 2019. It was such a close battle again with Kasia Niewiadoma and he got it, so yes, it was a pleasure to hear that. “
Deignan, who is currently out of the race, won the Women’s Tour with a two-second lead over Niewiadoma in 2019, after starting the final stage tied on time.
In the technical confrontation towards Oxford, Trek-Segafredo lined up at the head of the peloton, four runners surrounding Longo Borghini at the two-kilometer mark.
Four laps and a short climb in the last kilometer played with Longo Borghini’s strengths and, after the first lap in the flame rouge, Cordon-Ragot led the Italian champion, who accelerated the slight climb, stretching the platoon.
“In the end they all did a perfect job,” Longo Borghini praised his teammates.
“I let in a few runners to take the draft, then I did my own sprint. It was a really good example of teamwork and I’m very grateful to all my teammates and the staff who are here working for me. demonstrate the value of teamwork in cycling, ”he said.
After maneuvering the corners well, Longo Borghini reached the finish line in second place behind Clara Copponi (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope). Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) outscored both of them to get the win while Brown was out of the competition, and finally finished in 12th place.
Longo Borghini did not know where his competitor was: “At the time, he only wanted to take advantage of the bonus seconds,” he said.
And he did it: although Copponi finished ahead of her in second place, Longo Borghini withstood a late challenge from Tereza Neumanová (Liv Racing Xstra) to take third place, and the four seconds of bonus for that the they put a second ahead of Brown in the final GC to win the Women’s Tour 2022 by a small margin after more than 19 hours of racing.