CYCLING: Longo Borghini’s final-stage win decisive in the 32nd Emakumeen Bira

Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini (Photo: Geof Sheppard via Wikimedia commons)

Coming into the 32nd edition of the Emakumeen Birea in the Basque region of Spain, Dutch riders had taken eight of the 11 races in the 2019 UCI Women’s World Tour.

But with one stage to go, it was Australia’s Amanda Spratt who looked like a potential winner, trying to defend her title from 2018 and become the first repeat winner this century.

But in the end, it was veteran Elisa Longo Borghini who won the final sprint of the final stage to cross first in Onati. Her four-second cushion and the 10-second bonus for winning the stage was just enough to give her the win over Spratt by two seconds after 12:21:41 of racing!

For Longo Borghini, 27, it was her first stage win and first race win of the year and the first-ever multi-stage race win of her career.

The women get a couple of weeks off on the World Tour, which will resume in Britain with the Ovo Energy Women’s Tour on 10 June. Summaries:

UCI Women’s World Tour/32nd Emakumeen Bira
Spain ~ 22-25 May 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (101.0 km): 1. Jolien D’Hoore (BEL), 2:33:20; 2. Sofia Bertizzolo (ITA), 2:33:20; 3. Gracie Elvin (AUS), 2:33:20; 4. Sheyla Gutierrez (ESP), 2:33:20; 5. Anna Trevisi (ITA), 2:33:20. Also in the top 25: 24. Leah Thomas (USA), 2:33:20.

Stage 2 (110.8 km): 1. Amanda Spratt (AUS), 2:59:24; 2. Soraya Paladin (ITA), 2:59:24; 3. Mavi Garcia (ESP), 2:59:24; 4. Amy Pieters (NED), 2:59:27; 5. Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA), 2:59:32.

Stage 3 (97.6 km): 1. Tayler Wiles (USA), 2:37:43; 2. Longo Borghini (ITA), 2:38:04; 3. Paladin (ITA), 2:37:08; 4. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), 2:38:08; 5. Spratt (AUS), 2:38:23.

Stage 4 (155.8 km): 1. Longo Borghini (ITA), 4:11:02; 2. Christine Majerus (LUX), 4:11:06; 3. Wiles (USA), 4:11:06; 4. Gutierrez (ESP), 4:11:06; 5. Spratt (AUS), 4:11:06.

Final Standings: 1. Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA), 12:21:41; 2. Amanda Spratt (AUS), +0:02; 3. Soraya Paladin (ITA), +0:07; 4. Tayler Wiles (USA), +0:14; 5. Mavi Garcia (ESP), +0:34; 6. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), +0:36; 7. Katrine Aalerud (DEN), +0:45; 8. Ane Santesteban (ESP), +1:07; 9. Eider Merino (ESP), +1:07; 10. Cristina Martinez (ESP), +1:30.