"I’m delighted she won" - Elisa Longo Borghini admits defeat to Katarzyna Niewiadoma on the Mur de Huy

In a titanic battle on the Mur de Huy, Elisa Longo Borghini, Demi Vollering and Katarzyna Niewiadoma went head-to-head at La Fleche Wallonne Femmes. In the end, it was Niewiadoma who proved strongest.

"I think Niewiadoma went in a perfect spot. She was the strongest today, and to be fair and honest I’m delighted she won," reflected Longo Borghini afterwards in conversation with Lidl-Trek's official website. "She’s always a fair rider and somebody I have a lot of respect for, and she deserved the win."

A third-placed finish is nothing to sad about for Longo Borghini however. "It was a really hard finish, I was trying to do my job to help Gaia Realini to the end but she told me she was not good and gave me a go, so I tried my best," she recalls. "It was again a good team effort today because I had all the girls around me and Gaia and they were really taking care of us, bringing us warm clothing. Thank you to them."

"It’s a good satisfaction to be third in Flèche Wallonne. It was a very cold and kind of strange race. It started raining at the very beginning of the race. I’m sorry for my teammate Gaia who isn’t coping really well with the cold weather, because I think normally on this final she could win," the Italian concludes. "In the end it was just a pity she couldn’t be there. On Sunday again we will probably have a really cold day and I’m looking forward to it."