Elisa Longo Borghini underlined her status as the queen of the mountain with an impressive win at Jebel Hafeet which moved her into the overall lead at the UAE Tour Women on Saturday.
The Italian broke away from the pack to lead a fantastic one-two finish for the UAE Team ADQ in the 158-kilometre penultimate stage of the race from Al Ain Qasr Al Muwaiji to Jebel Hafeet.
Borghini, 33, went out on her own in the final three kilometres to cross the finishing line in 3 hours 56 minutes and 31 seconds, 35 seconds ahead of teammate and countrywoman Silvia Persico, who led the chasing pack to take second.
Kimberley Le Court of AG Insurance-Soudal joined the two UAE Team ADQ riders on the podium, followed by Italians Monica Trinca Colonel (Canyon-SRAM) and Barbara Malcotti (Human Powered health) in fourth and fifth, respectively.
To cap a memorable day for UAE Team ADQ, Dutch rider Karlin Karlijn Swinkels also has a top-five slot in the overall standings.
Borghni who took the lead from winner of the first two stages, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx – Protime) hailed the team's efforts.
“We can really call it a masterpiece from Team ADQ,” said Borghini, who won the inaugural event in 2023 while racing for Trek–Segafredo.
“Today we had a clear goal, and it was the victory and the red jersey. All the team did amazing.”
Borghini put herself in a strong position by getting in the front echelon of yesterday’s crosswind-affected stage, Band she lived up to the top billing to take the overall lead at the mountain stage.
“There was a moment when Siliva and I were caught out of the main echelon,” she added.
“[Elynor] Backstedt brought us back within a second. Then the whole team did a great job to position us in the best position possible into the climb. After that, Persico just rode at a good tempo.”
Persico set the early pace to the climb at Jebel Hafeet that left the group of leading GC contenders down to just nine riders, distancing overall leader Wiebes and rivals Juliette Labous (FDJ-SUEZ) and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike).
“I felt very comfortable the whole climb. When I felt like it was the right time, I just attacked,” Borghini said on her decision to breakaway from the pack.
“This was a crazy day. I really wanted to win my first victory for the team. I wanted us to win because a few weeks ago my family lost a friend, and that’s for him. We are pretty happy with the entire performance from Team UAE ADQ.”
Going into the final stage on Sunday and with a 2-09 lead on GC over her teammate Persico in second and 2-11 over Le Court in third, Borghini should be able to seal overall victory in the 128km flat route concluding at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater.
“For sure, we want to win this Tour and try to defend the Red Jersey until the very end of the race. It’s going to be a nice day tomorrow!” she added.
Results of stage 3:
1. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) 3 hrs 56 min 31 sec
2. Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) + 35
3. Kimberely Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) + 35
4. Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco) + 38
5. Barbara Malcotti (Human Powered Health) + 38
General classification:
1. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) 10 hrs 29 min 11 sec
2. Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) 10:13:38
3. Kimberley Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) 10:13:40
4. Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv-Alula-Jayco) 10:13:47
5. Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) 10:14:31
