Elisa Longo Borghini returns to the Giro d’Italia Women in 2025 not just as a home favourite, but as defending champion. Yet despite the number 1 on her back, the Italian is approaching this year’s race with the caution and clarity of someone who knows nothing in the Giro can be taken for granted.
“I’m definitely proud of what I achieved last year, but last year is last year and this year is 2025, so we start from zero again,” she said ahead of the race. “I can just make sure that I can promise a battle, I cannot promise victories but a good fight – that’s what I will do.”
After switching teams for 2025, Longo Borghini has already delivered strong results for her new outfit. She won Dwars door Vlaanderen and De Brabantse Pijl, took GC victory at the UAE Tour Women, and finished runner-up at Vuelta a Burgos Feminas. She also added another Italian road title to her palmarès, despite a course ill-suited to her strengths.
“Of course it would be nice to give a nice result to the team,” she said. “But I can only give my 110%, and if I end up fifth after giving everything, I’ll accept it.”
Her strong form this year has silenced any doubts about adapting to new surroundings. But experience has taught her that the Giro rewards resilience, not assumptions. In 2023, she was second overall before crashing out on stage 5 – her first ever DNF at the race.
A familiar format, unfamiliar rivals
This year’s course shares similarities with 2024: a time trial opener, a mix of sprint and hilly stages, and a brutal final block. What it lacks in name-brand climbs like the Zoncolan, it makes up for in accumulated difficulty.
“People are assuming that this Giro is not as hard as last year, just because there’s not a mythical climb,” Longo Borghini said. “But if you look at the elevation and the length, the structure is the same.”
The summit finish on Monte Nerone, a demanding climb with multiple ascents leading into it, is one of the new challenges. But so is the radically reconfigured peloton.
“This year in the spring, there were a lot of princesses, but never a queen,” she observed, alluding to the lack of a single dominant rider or team.
Photo Credit: GettyRivals old and new
Among the threats are former teammate Shirin van Anrooij, now more free to target GC at Lidl-Trek, and Juliette Labous, who has looked sharp this season with FDJ-SUEZ. Marlen Reusser will be a danger in the time trial, while Anna van der Breggen, back from retirement, adds an intriguing wildcard to the mix.
The world champion Lotte Kopecky, runner-up last year, is also on the start list, though with the Tour de France Femmes looming shortly after, her focus may not be fully on GC.
That all leaves the door open for a dynamic, unpredictable race.
If the GC is still tight going into the final stage, Longo Borghini may yet have the perfect terrain to launch one last assault. The last day’s lumpy profile echoes that of the Imola 2020 World Championships, where she finished third.
“It’s basically my perfect parcours – I’m the type of rider for those kind of parcours,” she said. “But we are definitely going too much ahead right now.”
No guarantees, only grit
While others might lean into the pressure of the maglia rosa, Longo Borghini is more focused on process than outcome.
“I want to walk away with a good experience with a new team, a good professional display of team tactics and team dynamics,” she said.
She knows how cruel the Giro can be. But if it comes down to a battle, there’s no doubt she’ll be in the thick of it.
