Elisa Longo Borghini

Rider Information:

Date of Birth: 10/12/1991

Place of Birth: Verbania, Italy

Disciplines: Road

Rider Bio:

Elisa Longo Borghini was born on the 10 December, 1991 in Verbania, Italy. The 23-year old from Ornavasso picked up cycling at the age of nine after being involved in sports since the day she was born. Elisa grew up in a topsport minded family as her mother was an Olympic cross-country skier. She competed until she was seven months pregnant with Elisa which might explain a lot about Elisa’s athletic ability. Her father has been responsible for the technical support of the Italian national cross-country ski team while her older brother Paolo has been a professional cyclist for eleven years. He recently announced his retirement and inspired Elisa to start racing as well.

Longo Borghini studied language course but she has put her studies on hold to give her professional cycling career a go in the next years. Although she has a bright cycling future ahead, Elisa is eager to get her degree to become a Russian or Chinese translator.

Longo Borghini turned pro in 2011 with Top Girls Fassa Bortolo and joined the Hitec-Products team in 2011. In 2012 she finished third at the Road World Championships in Valkenburg behind Marianne Vos and Rachel Neylan. In 2013 she won the Trofeo Binda and finished second in the Fleche Wallonne. In the road race at the Italian National Championships that year Elisa crashed hard facing serious injuries all over her body especially her stomach. But as of a wonder Elisa returned in competition about two months later right in time to compete in the World Championships in Firenze.

In 2014 Elisa had a stellar road season with five UCI wins including two stages and the overall ranking in the Tour de Bretagne, a stage and the overall ranking in the Trophee D’Or and the Italian National Time Trial Championship. Next to that she played an important role in all the Classics with a third place in the Flèche Wallonne and a fourth place in the Tour of Flanders. She also played a crucial role in the World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain where she was in the leading break until the final kilometre with Marianne Vos, Emma Johansson and Lizzie Armitstead.

But her real breakthrough came in 2015 when she became the first Italian to win the Tour of Flanders. She also won the Giro dell’Emilia and two stages and the overall ranking in the Route de France. Next to that she was a.o. second in Philadelphia, fourth in Binda and fourth in the road race at the Worlds in Richmond, Virginia.

Elisa’s all-round talent on different type of terrains coupled with her determination and selfless devotion makes her an indispensable member of the team. It is no surprise that the Olympics in Rio is one of the main targets for the 24 year old in 2016.

Results:

2015 Tour of Flanders
2015 Giro dell’Emilia
2015 Two stages + GC Route de France
2014 Overall Tour de Bretagne
2014 Overall Trophee D’Or
2014 Italian National Champion ITT
2014 3rd Fleche Wallonne
2013 2nd Fleche Wallonne
2012 3rd World Championships Valkenburg
2013 1st Trofeo Bonda