Elisa Longo Borghini: "My ambitions for this race are to race free and see where my limits are this week"

Trek-Segafredo stormed to victory in the opening team time trial stage of Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta on Wednesday. The team finished the 19.9 km course in just 23 minutes and 31 seconds, beating the previous fastest time set by Team Bike Exchange by six seconds to secure the victory.

GC leader Elisa Longo Borghini is very happy with the team’s effort. “I feel really happy because it was another team victory. We had a good plan, and the team did really well. I have to thank the entire staff of Trek-Segafredo and all the girls because they were really committed today,” said Longo Borghini.

There were only a few notable teams who finished the race in a challenging time, She knew her team’s capabilities surpassed others so there was not much pressure. “We knew we were generally strong compared to the others, there was not one team that was standing over the others, so we knew we would be competitive today. We tried our best to start fast and finish fast,” said Longo Borghini.

She is going to enjoy herself with her teammates and relax before the next stage begins. “My ambitions for this race are to race free and see where my limits are this week. Tomorrow is a very hard stage, and I just want to cherish this moment now with my teammates and we will think about Stage2 tomorrow morning. Of course, I will try to defend the leader’s jersey. I am honored to wear it as it does not happen often, so I will definitely try and defend it,” concluded Longo Borghini.