Elisa Longo Borghini holds off Lotte Kopecky to win Giro d'Italia Women, Kim Le Court triumphs on Stage 8
Updated 14/07/2024 at 18:17 GMT+1
Kim Le Court won a three-up sprint to win Stage 8 at the Giro d'Italia Women as Elisa Longo Borghini delivered the overall victory for Italy. A tense final day saw just one second separate Longo Borghini from Lotte Kopecky - and with bonus seconds on the table, and Kopecky's strong finishing speed, it was always going to a nervy day. But Longo Borghini thrived when it mattered most on Sunday.
Stage 8 Highlights: Longo Borghini roars to title with thrilling late charge
Video credit: TNT Sports
Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) claimed the biggest stage race title of her career as she fought off Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) to win the Giro d'Italia Women.
Just one second separated the two GC rivals heading into the eighth and final stage in the mountains, with Longo Borghini stalking her Belgian rival throughout Sunday's run to L'Aquila.
With three riders up the road and bonus seconds off the table, the Italian just needed to ensure Kopecky did not gap her on the line. She did more than that.
Longo Borghini attacked on the uphill home straight to wrap up a superb overall victory and Kopecky - despite shadowing her rival for almost the entire race - could only stay, defeated, in the saddle.
Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) won the three-up sprint at the front, besting breakaway companions Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health) and Franziska Koch (dsm-firmenich PostNL), but the day belonged to Longo Borghini.
"Today we started and people were doubting, they were like 'Oh, Kopecky will outsprint you'," Longo Borghini said at the finish. "Today I really wanted to give it back to Kopecky because she made me a bit upset yesterday, now I can say that. I was nervous today in a very good way and I was like, 'I'm gonna crack you, no matter what.'
"Everyone in the team was super motivated to keep the maglia rosa, all the team-mates did an amazing job. I just wanted to cross the line with the maglia rosa and to show everybody I was the strongest. I like the adrenaline when it's about one second, I like the head-to-head fight and I like to fight until the end."
And fight until the end she did, punching the air in celebration as she finally claimed victory in her home Grand Tour after a succession of top 10 and podium places. She had led since the time trial on Stage 1 and once again got the better of Kopecky in an uphill sprint, extending her margin of victory to 21 seconds from the single second it had been at the start of the day's action.
Le Court, meanwhile, took the biggest victory of her career and was emotional in her post-race interview.
"I have no words," she said at the finish. "Being in this bunch and on the start of any race this year in the WorldTour has been a dream. Of course it's something I've always wanted, it's always something you dream of but you never know if it's possible because I always see the others as stronger than me. Today proved that it's possible."
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'I'm going to crack you, no matter what' – Longo Borghini reveals pep talk before winning Giro
Video credit: TNT Sports
After Saturday's queen stage, Stage 8 was a less gruelling affair, featuring a succession of punchy climbs but only two categorised peaks on the 117km route from Pescara to L'Aquila.
Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) cemented her Queen of the Mountains jersey as she crested the summit of the Cat. 3 Forca di Penne and the Cat. 1 Castel del Monte first.
The bonus seconds on offer at the finish line meant the two leading teams opted for very different strategies. Lidl-Trek were happy to let a breakaway up the road to contest the stage win, but they clashed with Kopecky's SD Worx-Protime, who aimed to control the race and allow the Belgian to take the bonus time.
A four-rider breakaway including Lidl-Trek's Lucinda Brand and Ghekiere was caught atop the Castel del Monte, and after a flurry of attacks on the 20km descent, Edwards and Koch finally got a gap with around 39km remaining. They were joined by Le Court shortly after, with Kopecky's team-mate Niamh Fisher-Black plugging away on the front of the peloton to bring them back.
Despite Fisher-Black's efforts the gap increased to the leading trio to 1'25" in the closing 10km. As the kilometres ticked by, another wave of attacks failed to stick but slowly cut their time down.
In the final 5km the breakaway had just 30 seconds, but it soon became clear that they would fight it out for the stage honours. Le Court got the better of her companions in a three-up sprint, while Kopecky attacked inside the final few hundred metres but couldn't get clear.
The Belgian had no answer shortly after as Longo Borghini timed her move to perfection and soared away on the steep ramp in L'Aquila to secure the biggest title of her career to date.
The world champion had the consolation of keeping the red points jersey alongside her second place, with Canyon-SRAM's Neve Bradbury - who won Stage 7 thanks to a masterful climbing clinic - rounding out the podium at 1'16" back.
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