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The sting of defeat is bitter, particularly when victory is so near. That’s what Elisa Longo Borghini will use as fuel in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders.
The UAE Team ADQ rider drew on that motivation to triumph in Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, and will keep recent near misses in mind to give her additional zest for the big classic.
“Sometimes when you have a big disappointment, you just want to bounce back and show that you are the strongest,” the Italian national champion told journalists after soloing to victory in Wednesday’s race.
“And today I really wanted to show that I’m also here, and I’m among the best competitors for the races. Because in [the Trofeo Alfredo Binda] Cittiglio they caught me at 300 meters to go in. In Strade I was sick.
“And then in Milan San Remo, they caught me at 150 to go.”
And while she is now coming off the back off a big victory, she will try not to be complacent.
Rather than focusing on her latest success, she will remember the sting of Alfred Binda, the disappointment of San Remo, and try to channel those feelings into triumph in Flanders.
Everybody is very hyped for the Ronde
Now 33 years of age, Longo Borghini is no stranger to the classic. She has ridden it 13 times in all, never missing the event since her debut in 2011.
She triumphed twice, in 2024 and in 2015. She’s also been third, was fourth three times, and fifth.
It’s her kind of race. Winning on Wednesday gives her all the confidence she might need.
“It’s proof that I’m in good shape,” she said.
“Sunday is a completely different race than today. There are a lot of competitors. I have a lot of respect for them, and it’s going to be a nice battle.
“Everybody is very hyped for the Ronde. They are all looking forward to it.”
Longo Borghini underlined both her racing instinct and her strength which a dazzling attack with 2km to go in San Remo. She darted clear just as the lead group came off the Poggio and would have won had world champion Lotte Kopecky not sacrificed her own chances to set up SD Worx Protime teammate Lorena Wiebes.
Kopecky dragged the chase group along and caught her just before the line.
It was a big blow. The race was newly returned to the women’s calendar, and Longo Borghini had looked set to become the first winner.
Triumphing on home soil would have been an additional plus, as well as in the national champion’s jersey.
Instead she had to take stock, refocus, and use that frustration to work towards a very successful spring.
Winning on Wednesday is the start of that; she hopes Flanders will follow.
Can she do it? Well, Kopecky names her as a major rival.
“It was always her for me,” she told Wieleflits this week.
“I had seen some strong things from her in Gent-Wevelgem. She was above me anyway.”
A key ally helps keep perspective: ‘He’s the only person who can chill me out’
Professional athletes are by their nature highly ambitious people.
Being so driven is a key element in success. It can also be a burden when things don’t go to plan.
Longo Borghini paid credit to her coach in speaking about her path from the disappointment on the Via Roma to victory Wednesday.
He was, she said, a big part of her ability to bounce back.
“There was a little bit of frustration going around in the past weeks because of Milan San Remo,” she said.
“I came very close to the victory, but I didn’t get it. And then I had a lot of phone calls with my trainer, Paulo Slongo, who kept me very calm all the time.
“He’s a man I’m very thankful to because he knows me very well. He knows when I’m good, and he knows how to handle my strong character sometimes.”
Asked to define what she means about a strong character, she elaborated.
“Let’s say that I can be very annoying if I don’t get what I want,” she laughed. “I’m born a perfectionist, and as every athlete, I live and race and train and do everything 110%. When I don’t get a result after having done my 110% I’m quite annoyed, let’s say.”
Slongo is a key element in turning things around again.
“Somehow the only person that can chill me out is my trainer, because he is such a quiet person and such a nice one,” she continued. “He knows me very well.
“He knows basically everything about my body, my power, my everything. And he’s like, ‘Elisa, you’re just good. You just miss a victory. And I’m pretty sure you’re going around it.’
“And therefore I’m very thankful to him.”
‘Belgium raised me as a cyclist’
Longo Borghini’s success in last year’s Tour of Flanders came at the end of a dramatic race. She put in a powerful move with Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) on the Paterberg, bridging across to her-then Lidl-Trek teammate Shirin Van Anrooij.
The trio drove towards the finish line, fending of a powerful chase group containing Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), SD Worx-Protime duo Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering, Puck Pieterse (Fenix Deceuninck) and Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ).
Van Anrooij then led out the sprint, with Longo Borghini beating Niewiadoma to the line.
Winning again on Sunday would be huge. She’d become the first-ever three time champion in the history of the event.
She also has clear emotional links to Belgium, underlining after Wednesday’s success how important the country is to her.
“I’m very proud to have won here in Belgium, because it’s a place that raised me as a cyclist,” she said then. “I’m very familiar with these climbs, with this section of cobbles and everything.
“I came here when I was 20, and I stayed here three or four springs long, because I was riding for Hitech Products. We were based here. So somehow I was always around this region.
“Belgium kind of raised me as a cyclist, and I’m thankful to this country. It’s always nice when you get a victory here.”
That too will add to her drive Sunday. She’s excited thinking about it.
“The atmosphere [here], especially in this week, is very nice,” she said. “So I’m very happy to be here and to enjoy this.”
‘We go there humble as always’
Two days to go. That anticipation will be growing with each passing hour.
So who stands in her way?
On paper at least anyone can win Sunday. This year’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad proved that when two of the day’s breakaway riders outwitted the peloton and finished over three minutes clear.
However the peloton is unlikely to make the same mistake twice and that, plus the severity of the course, should narrow down the list of winners.
She named key rivals after her win in Dwars door Vlaanderen.
“For me Gent-Wevelgem and this race showed a very strong SD Worx and a very strong Canyon with Dygert in Gent Wevelgem and today Niewiadoma,” she said.
“Lidl is a compact team. Puck Pieterse is always strong. She showed it.
“And then [Liane] Lippert, together with [Marlen] Reusser, are the main competitors for sure.”
What boosts her own chances is a strong UAE Team ADQ lineup. On Wednesday the team could only field five riders due to injury to Karlijn Swinkels and Sivia Persico.
“I would like to dedicate this victory to my teammates, because we showed that even with some setbacks, we can still win races,” she said then, paying credit.
“Flanders is going to be a different story, because Persico is coming back. So I will have a lot of support.
“We are going there with a low profile, humble as always, because we respect the other riders. But we will try our best to do the best results possible.”
With her 50th career win on Wednesday, Longo Borghini’s confidence is exactly where it needs to be.
If her legs follow suit, if she shows the same attacking verve as ever, that record third win could click into place.
