Giro d'Italia Donne: Elisa Longo Borghini wins stage 4 from late move

Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) sprinted to victory from a group on stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia Donne, beating Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) and pink jersey Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) into second and third.

In a three-up sprint with her fellow late attackers, the Italian easily proved to be the fastest finisher, opening up her sprint first and holding off Van Vleuten and Ewers all the way to the line.

Ewers had attacked in the final 35km, before Van Vleuten and Longo Borghini bridged across to the American on the penultimate climb. Longo Borghini attempted to get away on the final climb, but the trio was together on the descent and run-in and sprinted for the win in Borgo Val di Toro.

The trio finished 40 seconds ahead of the chasing group, where Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) won the sprint for fourth.

“I’m a Lidl emotional,” Longo Borghini joked at the finish after delivering the first win for the team’s new sponsor. “Especially because I have the tricolore [jersey] and I’m racing in my own country. I’m always very proud to wear the tricolore, and winning here in front of a rider that I respect a lot, Annemiek van Vleuten, is such a good thing.

“[This victory] means a lot, because it’s my second victory in my entire life in a sprint. It’s just amazing and I think it’s good for the new sponsor. I would also like to thank all my riders, all the staff and greet Luca Guercilena, our team manager, who is at home right now. I hope I made him happy.”

How it happened

With a lumpy run-in but a flat finish, it was in the balance whether stage 4 would be a day for a breakaway or a sprint, and so it was expected to be a big battle for the break at the start of the day. There were multiple attacks and attempts in the first 30km, but it took until nearly 40km completed for a group to get away and stay away, with Amalie Dideriksen (Uno-X), Silvia Zanardi (Bepink) and Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) eventually forming the break of the day.

Finally happy with the composition of the front group, the peloton relaxed and let the trio build up a lead of two minutes at the halfway point of the stage. As the race hit the first of three climbs squeezed into the final 50km, though, the likes of Lidl-Trek and Movistar started chasing on the front of the peloton and the gap began to shrink.

With 44km to go, Pluimers attacked to drop Dideriksen and Zanardi and attempt to go to the line solo, whilst back in the peloton the high pace from Movistar was making it difficult for many to hold on. On the early slopes of the long Passo Montevacà, the attacks in the peloton began to stretch out the peloton, but no splits formed.

A small touch of wheels saw Van Vleuten briefly hit the ground but the pink jersey was back up and riding quickly. With 33km to go, Veronica Ewers put in an attack that perhaps took the peloton by surprise, as she quickly pulled out a significant gap and went past Pluimers to take a 40 second lead into the final 30km.

Over the top of the Montevacà, the attacks began in the peloton with Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) briefly away and splitting the race, but things quickly came back together. On the next and final climb, Van Vleuten and Elisa Longo Borghini attacked and caught Ewers with 15km to go, pulling out 30 seconds over the chasing group. It was mainly GC riders and climbers in the chase, but the likes of Lorena Wiebes and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) were still there too.

Towards the top of the final climb, Longo Borghini started accelerating, putting Van Vleuten under pressure but not yet able to drop her. The Italian tried to use her descending skills to distance Van Vleuten and Ewers on the downhill, but they rejoined her as the road flattened again. With 8km to go, the leading three had a minute’s lead, with SD Worx leading the chase behind, but they were making little inroads and it looked primed for a sprint between the leaders.

With a kilometre to go, Van Vleuten was on the front leading out the sprint, but it was Longo Borghini who opened up her sprint first and managed to hold off Ewers and the pink jersey all the way to the line to take the stage win. In the chasing group, Wiebes easily won the sprint for fourth, 40 seconds down on the winner.

Longo Borghini and Ewers moved up to second and third on GC at the end of the stage, going clear of the likes of Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) and Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich), but Van Vleuten still leads by 49 seconds. Marta Cavalli (FDJ-SUEZ) continues to lead the mountains classification, and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) tops the best young rider standings.

Tomorrow’s fifth stage is another day for the climbers, taking in the HC Passo del Luppo climb early on, before two more categorised climbs in the finale and a 4km rise to the finish line.

We’ll be showing live and on-demand coverage of all nine stages of this year’s Giro d’Italia from Friday, June 30 to Sunday, July 9. Head over to GCN+ now to check the start times of each broadcast so that you don’t miss out on a moment of the action! As always, territory restrictions will apply.