Elisa Longo-Borghini bettered her third place last year by winning the Italian National time trial title for a fourth time, 10 seconds ahead of Vittoria Bussi. Vittoria Guazzini rounded out the podium in third.
Longo Borghini, a member of the National Police Force, raced with the Polizia kit for the National Championships. Her win gave Trek-Segafredo its second national jersey in two days after Anna Plichta won the Polish title Thursday.
I’m really super happy for this win! The course was not well-suited to my characteristics, I would have preferred it harder, but I had a lot of desire to win. I got off to a strong start; I was confident of my form and didn’t think too much about the technical aspect of the race.
I knew that I had to start full gas, taking advantage of the first part and the climb of the Rosina, and run the risk of ending the race with my performance dropping. I decided to take the risk and it paid off.
My condition is good, I worked well in the team’s training camp, but I know I can still improve. Also, Tuesday’s crash at the Giro dell’Emilia left me with a few after-effects even if today’s performance makes me very happy.
It’s been three years since Longo Borghini stood atop the podium in the Nationals Championships, winning the time trial and road titles in 2017. Longo Borghini also won the TT title in 2016 and 2014.
To win again in a disrupted, abnormal season was a testament to her desire to ride another year in the tri-color jersey.
It’s the fourth title, but it never gets old to wear the Italian jersey. Unfortunately, for different reasons, the last two seasons I haven’t been able to express myself as I wanted, but this year I absolutely wanted to find myself again. I did!
I want this success to be the first step in view for the next races, Giro Rosa first of all. I also want to keep my feet on the ground and keep the focus on preparation and recovery.