Giro d’Italia Women winner Elisa Longo Borghini introduced right now on X (previously Twitter) that she won’t begin the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift this Monday, August 12, because of the lingering results of a coaching crash this previous week. Although she did not maintain any fractures, the Italian bike owner shared that she “left a variety of pores and skin on the highway” and is at present unable to experience her bike.
She added, “I really feel gutted to not be alongside my teammates to combat for a terrific Tour.”
Longo Borghini has skilled a mixture of highs and lows on the French Grand Tour over the previous two editions. In 2022, she completed sixth total after taking part in a key function within the race. However, in 2023, after crashing and withdrawing from the Giro d’Italia Women, she returned to compete within the Tour de France Femmes however was as soon as once more compelled to desert earlier than stage 7 because of a pores and skin an infection, capping off a difficult yr.
In 2024, Longo Borghini determined to prioritize the Giro d’Italia, the place she claimed the general victory on residence soil. Following her triumph, she competed on the Olympic Games and was thought of a possible darkish horse contender for the Tour de France.
The Lidl-Trek squad will line up for the Tour de France Femmes with Gaia Realini and Shirin van Anrooij because the designated normal classification leaders. The group’s roster additionally contains Lucinda Brand, Amanda Spratt, Elisa Balsamo, Lizzie Deignan and Ellen van Dijk.
“Gaia and Shirin will each have the chance to see what they’ll do on the General Classification and we’ve some actually sturdy help for them. Elisa will, naturally, be our chief for sprints whereas, Lucinda, Lizzie, Spratty, and Ellen carry a wealth of expertise to our line-up,” Lidl-Trek sport director Jeroen Blijlevens stated in a group assertion.
“Overall, we’ve a extremely well-balanced group with a bunch of riders that every one have the energy to win in several methods and everybody is worked up concerning the problem forward.”
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Balsamo can be in search of victory within the opening two levels however she should take care of sprinters Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) and Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease A Bike).
The 26-year-old Italian outpaced Kool on the Classic Brugge-De Panne, defeated Vos on the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana earlier this spring, and outsped each Wiebes and Kool on the primary stage of the 2023 Simac Ladies Tour.
Balsamo, Deignan, and Van Dijk all competed within the Olympic highway race for his or her respective international locations on August 4th, with Deignan attaining the very best end amongst them, inserting twelfth. Van Dijk additionally participated within the Olympic time trial, the place she secured eleventh place.
Meanwhile, Brand, Spratt, Realini and Van Anrooij frolicked at altitude camp in Andorra for a block of coaching earlier than gathering in Rotterdam.
“We are coming into the Tour de France Femmes off the again of an enormous win for the Team on the Giro d’Italia Women and I feel that has given everybody a variety of confidence and motivation for the race forward. Lidl-Trek all the time line-up at first of a race with huge targets and the ambition, in addition to capacity, to win. However, for the final two yr’s luck has not been on the Team’s facet and so they haven’t bought the outcomes they possibly ought to have. We need that to alter this yr,” Blijlevens stated.
With remorse I gained’t be at first of #TDFF2024 because of the penalties of a crash in coaching. No fractures, however I left lot of pores and skin on the highway and I can’t experience my bike.I really feel gutted to not be alongside my teammates to combat for a terrific Tour for @lidltrek. Good luck women! pic.twitter.com/sVvJsPK88uAugust 10, 2024
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