Show of strength on the cobblestones. The Italian Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek) won the second edition of the Paris-Roubaix Women solo, run this Saturday over the distance of 124 kilometers. The Italian champion led a solo raid of about thirty kilometers.
She succeeds Lizzie Deignan, who will remain as the first cyclist to win Paris-Roubaix. The 34-year-old Briton entered the Roubaix velodrome alone on October 2, when the first women’s edition of the event was held exceptionally in the fall, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Trek-Segafredo team rider was not present this year to defend her title: pregnant with a second child, she is in the middle of a prenatal break.
Unlike Deignan, Longo Borghini was not only rewarded with glory, but also with a decent performance bonus. After an outcry during the first edition, the organizers have indeed decided to revalue the hard and stumbling prizes awarded to the runners for this second edition of the cobblestone race. Thus, the first is now rewarded with a check for 20,000 euros, thirteen times more than the 1,535 euros paid to Lizzie Deignan a few months ago. It’s not yet perfect equality with men (the winner of tomorrow will receive 30,000 euros), but they advance the wheels of fortune.