Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling is excited to announce that Elisa Longo Borghini will be joining the black and orange team in 2015. The 22-year-old from the Piemonte region of Northern Italy is the reigning Italian time trial champion, and currently one of the most exciting riders in the women’s peloton. Elisa represented Italy in both the time trial and road race at last week’s World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain, where she was part of a four-rider final lap attack with Vos, Johansson and Armitstead, that was unfortunately caught in the closing half kilometre.
“I’m really excited to join Wiggle Honda,” said Longo Borghini. “I had three great years at Hitec Products, I learnt and improved a lot but now it was time for a change.
“Wiggle Honda will be a really strong team which can compete for the victory in every type of race,” she added. “I will ride next to top-class athletes and have the chance to keep learning about cycling.
“I am already looking forward to the upcoming season, and I can’t wait to race!”
From a sporting family Longo Borghini’s mother Guidina Dal Sasso was a multiple champion cross country skier, while Elisa’s brother Paolo is also a professional cyclist, currently with WorldTour team Cannondale Pro Cycling.
Elisa burst onto the international scene in February 2011 when, aged just 19, she finished fifth in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with the Belgian Classic raced in conditions of freezing rain. 2012 saw her finish as the best young rider in the Giro d’Italia, and end the year with a World Championship bronze medal.
Her ability to overcome the worst conditions showed again when she took a solo victory in the 2013 Trofeo Alfredo Binda World Cup. She suffered horrific injuries in a crash in that year’s Italian Championships, but recovered quickly enough to play an influential part in the World Championship road race in Florence.
In 2014 Elisa won both the Tour de Bretagne and Trophée d’Or stage races, and finished the Giro d’Italia as the best Italian rider. She has finished on the podium of the last two editions of la Flèche Wallonne, and finished fourth in the last two Tours of Flanders.
“Elisa is an athlete I have wanted to work with from the moment I started Wiggle Honda,” said the team’s Managing Director Rochelle Gilmore. “Before her horrific accident last year I recognised her capabilities and, after an impressive rehab, she is well on her way to what I believe she can achieve in the next few years: a World Number One ranking.”
After Olympic Champion Dani King, Elisa is the second rider to be confirmed as part of Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling in 2015. The team will be making further announcements in the coming weeks.
