Elisa Longo Borghini has claimed victory in the 2024 Giro d’Italia Women, becoming the first Italian to win the event since Fabiana Luperini in 2008. Lotte Kopecky finished in second place, just 21 seconds behind, while yesterday’s stage winner Neve Bradbury took third, 1 minute and 16 seconds down.
The final stage, a challenging 117km from Pescara to L’Aquila, saw the riders set off under a sunny sky with a temperature of 32ยฐC. The peloton remained packed in the opening kilometres until Zontone pulled away at km 20, joined by Adegeest and Nooijen at km 23. This breakaway was short-lived, getting reeled in by km 25.
The first intermediate sprint at Catignano saw Zanardi roll through first, followed by ลฝigart, Steels, Aalerud, Ghekiere, Fisher, Magalhรฃes, Realini, and the peloton. Brand, Steels, and Aalerud attacked at km 30, with Wyllie attempting to join them at km 37. The peloton trailed 30 seconds behind.
After the first hour of racing, the average speed was 37.150 kph. Wyllie was brought back at km 38, and the peloton trailed the breakaway by 28 seconds. Ghekiere counter-attacked at km 42, bridging across to the front before the mountain sprint at Forca di Penne (km 44.3), which Ghekiere won, followed by Brand, Aalerud, and Steels. The peloton came in 30 seconds later.
By km 50, the break’s advantage was 55 seconds, but it dropped to 24 seconds at km 59, and the peloton regrouped just before the summit. The second categorised climb at Castel del Monte (km 66.8) saw Ghekiere win again, followed by Brand, Aalerud, Steels, Koch, Kopecky, and the rest of the peloton.
At km 72, the peloton was still together. Kim Le Court, Edwards, and Koch broke away at km 80. By km 86, they had a 40-second lead, with Fisher-Black setting the pace in the peloton. At 20 km to go, the gap increased to 55 seconds. With 15 km remaining, the breakaway’s lead was over a minute. Adegeest attacked at 10 km out, with Garcia following at a short distance. The peloton, led by Kopecky and Longo Borghini, trailed at 1 minute 12 seconds.
As the breakaway entered the final 5 km, Adegeest and Garcia were chasing at 22 and 32 seconds, respectively, with the peloton trailing at 38 seconds. Koch struggled but rejoined the front group with 2 km to go. The leading trio maintained their lead, with Kopecky and Longo Borghini trying to bridge the gap.
In the final kilometre, Le Court, Edwards, and Koch led by 48 seconds. Le Court launched her sprint in the last 500 metres, securing the stage win ahead of Edwards and Koch. Longo Borghini accelerated behind them, sealing her overall victory.
Post-stage reactions
Speaking moments after the finish, Kim Le Court expressed her astonishment: “I have no words for what I’ve done. It was a dream to participate in a race like this, and now I am here, after winning a stage. I lost a lot of time in GC so today I started the stage to have fun. I gave everything as I had nothing to lose. It was pretty crazy to cross the line first.”
Elisa Longo Borghini reflected on her triumph: “It was an incredible epilogue to a perfect week. I like this kind of situation, being under pressure, fighting elbow to elbow. I started with a one-second lead but I was motivated to give everything and everyone in the team supported me. To wear the final Maglia Rosa is something special, I am proud of what I have done, even if I will need time to process it.”
She added: “This victory is the result of hard work, because I was not born a phenomenon but despite that I never stopped believing, even if I had to overcome difficult moments, injuries, periods when I wanted to reconsider my career. Even in this race there have been critical moments like in the third stage, when I suffered the heat on the final climb. Today, however, I was very quiet, the breakaway had a good gap and this situation forced Kopecky to attack. I was a bit annoyed by yesterday’s finale and today I wanted to prove my strength. My next goal is the Olympics but first I want to enjoy this success and the Maglia Rosa that I have dreamed of for so long and that I can now finally call my own.”
Lotte Kopecky shared her thoughts on finishing second: “I think it’s very nice to come second in a Grand Tour even if it was a close call. Today it was a pretty hard stage but I tried my best. My teammates did what they could to help me to try to win but it wasn’t possible. Elisa is such a strong rider, I feel nothing but respect for her. I am proud and satisfied with my performances at this Giro.”
In the mountains classification, Justine Ghekiere took home the QOM jersey after a solid performance, particularly shining on the climb of Castel del Monte.
Reflecting on her achievement, Ghekiere said: “I originally started with a free role and in support of Kim and Lore, but I always had the mountain classification in the back of my mind. After the crash on the sixth day, I initially thought ‘oh no, not again,’ but yesterday my legs felt so good, I wanted to show myself and prove that I am in good shape. I told myself that I didn’t need my lip, just my legs, so I gave everything yesterday and today and now I can take the mountain jersey home. I am extremely satisfied. This evening, I am going to treat myself to a pizza, and in the coming weeks, I will focus on the Olympic Games in Paris, where I will support Lotte Kopecky with the national team. Itโs a fantastic end to our Giro as a team.”
Kim Le Court added in the press conference: “It’s a crazy sensation. We didn’t come to the Giro with big expectations as we lost our GC leader for a crash in the weeks before the race. I did well in the first half of the Giro then I had a bad day so I abandoned every chance for the GC and focused on a stage win. It’s a big achievement for my country and I hope it will inspire more people to start cycling.”
2024 Giro d’Italia Women Stage 8 result
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2024 Giro d’Italia Women GC result
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All photo credits: La Presse
