Elisa Longo Borghini is a rider for Lidl-Trek and one of the most successful climbers and classics riders in modern women's cycling. The Italian has won races such as the Tour of Flanders, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Giro Donne, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix Femmes alongside several national titles.
Name: Elisa Longo Borghini
Date of birth: December 10, 1991
Birthplace: Ornavasso, Italy
Turned pro: 2011
Height: 1.70m
Elisa Longo Borghini was born December 10, 1991, in the northern city of Verbania, Italy. Born in a cycling-famous region and the daughter of a professional cross-country cyclist Guidina Dal Sasso, Longo Borghini has distinguished herself as one of the best professional cyclists in recent decades, especially in the classics. Elisa is also the sister of former Italian pro Paolo Longo Borghini and she has a relationship with Trek - Segafredo rider Jacopo Mosca. She currently rides for the American Lidl-Trek team.
The Italian rider turned pro in 2011 with the Top Girls Fassa Bortolo Ghezzi. On her first day of racing as a pro, she finished fifth in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, showing her talent in the classics from day one. It was her best performance of her neo-pro year, in which she achieved Top10 results in both under-23 European Championship races. In 2012 , Longo Borghini signed with Hitec Products - Mistral Home and had a consistent year with several strong results, including a Top10 and junior classification victory in the Giro d'Italia, her first pro win and 5th in the Internarionale Thuringen Rundfhart, and several podium finishes at the Under-23 European Time Trial Championships, GP de Plouay and Elite World Championships.
In 2013 , Longo Borghini was the winner of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and finished 4th in the Tour des Flandres and 2nd in the Flèche Wallonne in the spring. She finished 2nd in the Tour of Zhoushan Island and Emakumeen Euskal Bira - where she won a stage, 4th in the Giro del Trentino and 3rd in the Chrono des Nations which were the highlights of her season.
In 2014 she finished inside the Top6 of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Tour des Flandres and Flèche Wallone in the spring, and became Italian time trial champion later in the year. She finished 5th in the Giro d'Italia and won both the Tour de Bretagne Féminin and the Trophée d'Or Féminin in addition to three stage wins. As a result, she signed a contract with the Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling team for 2015. This was an important year, with a big win in the Tour des Flandres in the spring with a solo victory. 3rd in Strade Bianche and 4th in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda were other strong results.
Later in the year she started winning again, winning two stages and the overall classification in La Route de France and the Giro dell'Emilia. She also finished in the Top 10 at the Giro d'Italia and GP de Plouay, in addition to a 4th place finish at the Richmond World Championships. In 2016 , she finished early in the Top 5 of Strade Bianche, Tour des Flandres and Flèche Wallone, finished 3rd in the Women's Tour, Italian time trial champion, 3rd at the European Road Cycling Championships and once again crowned winner of the Giro dell'Emilia. This year she also finished 3rd at the road race of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and 5th in the time trial event.
In 2017 , she rode to a win in Strade Bianche early in the year, as well as Top 5 results in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Ronde van Drenthe and Amstel Gold Race. Longo Borghini became double national champion in the summer, and immediately after rode to a strong 2nd place in the Giro d'Italia, followed immediately by a 3rd place in La Course of Le Tour de France. It was a strong year and 2018 was her last year at Wiggle High5. She focused more on stage races, although her results were more modest, with the only win of the year being the Mediterranean road race.
In 2019 , Longo Borghini signed with Trek - Segafredo. Her first victories came with the Emakumeen Bira stage race where she won the final stage and all classifications. She finished 6th in La Course by Le Tour de France, 3rd at the European Time Trial Championships, 5th at the World Championships, 2nd in the Giro dell'Emilia and also rode to victory in the Vargarda West Sweden TTT. In 2020 she was consistent and strong before the Covid-19 break culminating in 5th place in Strade Bianche, then rode to both Italian national titles.
She finished 6th in La Course by Le Tour de France, 3rd in the Giro d'Italia in addition to a stage win, 3rd at the World Championships, 5th in Flèche Wallone and 2nd in the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. In 2021 she won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, placed 4th in the Tour des Flandres and was on the podium of several other spring races, including Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In the summer, she rode again to a double national Italian title and finished 3rd in the road race of the Tokyo Olympics.
Longo Borghini then won the GP de Plouay and rode to 3rd place at the first edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes. In 2022 , she picked up another of her most important victories of her career, when she won Paris-Roubaix Femmes as a favorite and took a strong solo victory. She also won the Women's Tour and finished 5th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in a span of two months. In the summer, she captured another Italian time trial title, followed by a 4th place in the Giro d'Italia and a 4th place in the Tour de France Femmes - and a 2nd place in the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. Late in the season, however, she won the Giro dell'Emilia and Tre Valli Varesine, and finished 3rd in the Tour de Romandie Féminin.
2023 began perfectly for the Italian when she traveled to the UAE Tour Women and proved the strongest by winning on Jebel Hafeet and taking the overall classification. In the spring, she did not achieve the consistent results of the past, but she still managed to finish on the podium of the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In the summer, she began her campaign with a third-place finish in the Tour of Switzerland Women with her eyes set on the Grand Tours, but things didn't go the way she wanted. Longo Borghini won stage 4 in the Giro Donne, but in stage 5 she crashed hard and had to abandon the next day. In the Tour de France Femmes the story was similar, she left the race on the morning of the queen stage while she was fourth in the general classification because she was suffering from a skin infection.
In 2024 Longo Borghini had a very consistent spring with several podiums, but more noteworthy were her victories, once again triumphing at the Tour of Flanders but also climbing to the top step at the Brabantse Pijl. Later in the spring she finished third at the Vuelta Femenina and repeated that position at the Tour de Suisse Women. She won the national championships road race and then went on to win the Giro Donne, her highlight of the season where she battled with a very dangerous Lotte Kopecky - Longo Borghini won the opening time-trial and kept the pink jersey all the way into L'Aquila.
The Italian finished on the Top10 of both Olympic Games events and then finished third at the World Championships Road Race, won by Lotte Kopecky. She closed off the year with another strong victory at the Giro dell'Emilia, her fourth in the climber-oriented race.