Elisa Longo Borghini wins the Queen Stage of The Women’s Tour

Elisa Longo Borghini made no mistake in the uphill sprint that ended Stage five, timing her jump at the 150-meter mark and powering over the line for the win.

“I felt really strong, and I wanted to pay back all the work that my teammates did,” Longo Borghini said after the race. “This climb is long but not steep and it’s hard to make the difference, plus we had a headwind, so it was like attacking and hitting a wall. In the wheel you stayed really comfortable actually, so I attacked to try and make the others tired.”

Elisa tried again moments later, but it was soon apparent the headwind was playing against her, and a change of tactics needed.

“I tried a couple of times, but with the headwind it was hard to make a selection, so then I trusted my sprint,” Longo Borghini added. “I went shorter than yesterday, at 150 meters I opened my sprint.”

The Italian national champion sprinted to third in stage four and afterward said that she had gone too early. Her patience paid off on Black Mountain.

Elisa Longo Borghini (@TrekSegafredo) wins stage five of the Women’s Tour atop Black Mountain in Carmarthenshire ? pic.twitter.com/pVuQ9qiEpL

— The Women's Tour (@thewomenstour) June 10, 2022

“Everyone was really committed today. Ellen (van Dijk) was in the break, and all my teammates were really helping me. Then Ellen was driving the first 3 km of the climb so it was up to me to finish it off.”

In the final meters the road turned, and with the headwind now to the side, Longo Borghini had the edge she needed. The final 150 meters were all hers.

The Women’s Tour ends tomorrow with a flat stage and it will undoubtedly see a big fight for the time bonuses on offer with race leader Grace Brown and Longo Borghini tied on time, and Kasia Niewiadoma in third at two seconds. But Longo Borghini was not thinking about that quite yet. “Right now, I will relax and enjoy this win and we will think about the last stage tomorrow. Tomorrow is tomorrow,” she said.

Canada’s Leah Kirchmann finished in 45th. She’s the lone Canuck in the race, after national champion did not start stage three due to illness.