"I like challenges" - Elisa Longo Borghini hopes fresh start in UAE Team ADQ can bring her to new heights

Elisa Longo Borghini has been very successful for Lidl-Trek in recent years, but the 32-year-old rider decided to leave the American formation. The Italian top rider will ride for UAE Team ADQ for the next three seasons, seeking a new challenge in a fresh environment.

Despite winning the Giro d'Italia Women and Tour of Flanders, Longo Borghini felt like it was time for a change. "I won’t be a cyclist forever and I want to take on a new challenge, one outside my comfort zone," she explains in an interview for Cyclingnews. "I’m an ambitious person. I like challenges and I like to go to places where I can discover things. I can do that with my new team. It’s kind of a new world."

Longo Borghini will bring her trainer Paolo Slongo to UAE Team ADQ. Brodie Chapman and Elynor Bäckstedt are also following the same path. "And there are a lot of other people I already know. There are also quite a few Italian riders riding for the team. That creates a familiar environment. It is a new challenge, but on the other hand I know where I am going."

Longo Borghini hopes to shine in a few specific races next year, in her first season with the team. The first is Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a race she has not yet won. "I really want to give it a try, because it is a race that is close to my heart."

Tour de France Femmes and the World Championships in Rwanda are also two main goals for 2025. "I had to miss the Tour this year (after a crash during training, ed.) and that was really frustrating. I hope that everything will fall into place next year. I will also try to do well again at the World Championships, especially because it is in Rwanda. That makes it extra special."