Three Brutal Attacks by Longo Borghini, One Unraveling by Niewiadoma

For any new students of the sport, Sunday’s final stage of the UAE Tour Women was a masterclass in the importance of pacing. Double champion Elisa Longo Borghini made it three GC wins in a row at the race, launching a trio of searing attacks on the final climb of Jebel Hafeet and breaking the resolve of 2024 Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma.

Longo Borghini kicked hard with 3.7km remaining and only Niewiadoma could respond. The Polish champion defiantly clawed her way back up to her and did the same again when Longo Borghini surged once more. However the effects of going into the red were fully visible with 2.7km left when the Italian put in the final decisive attack.

Niewiadoma completely blew up, sliding backwards in oxygen debt and being caught first and dropped by Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike), and then by Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal).

She had initially appeared the next-strongest on the climb to Longo Borghini, launching some forays of her own earlier on, but ended up losing a full 59 seconds in the final two and a half kilometers.

Niewiadoma is known for her courage and the amount of determination she shows when racing. On Sunday, in what is her first stage race of the year, the price of the effort she put in was made clear. She finished fifth.

She’ll get sharper with more races, and the dangers of digging in too deep will recede. But the stage outcome was a good reminder of just how narrow the gap can be between courage and collapse.

‘I saw Kasia with a pretty tired face’

Longo Borghini went into the race start on Thursday as the one to watching. Winning in 2024 and 2025 made sure of that, but she said herself she wasn’t sure how she would get on.

The first three stages went down to bunch sprints, as anticipated by their flat profile, and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) took each of those.

Sunday’s stage was to the top of the 10.7km Jebel Hafeet, a brute of a climb which included slopes of over nine percent.

Longo Borghini’s UAE Team Emirates squad took control at the bottom of the climb and while Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) had a go early on, it was Trinca Colonel and Niewiadoma who did most of the attacking prior to Longo Borghini making her move.

Niewiadoma hung on for a while but the defending champion’s repeated digs proved too much, and Longo Borghini went on to win.

“Today was my very first all out [effort] this year. It was a bit harder to win this year but it tastes very good,” Longo Borghini said. “Up the climb, I just embraced the game they were playing. It was fun.

“I was waiting for best moment to attack. When I felt it was a good one, I went. It wasn’t the place where I could drop everybody, but a bit further I looked around and I saw Kasia with a pretty tired face so I hit once more. I was pretty sure I’d go again alone.”

Trinca Colonel and De Vries finished 12 and 14 seconds back respectively, with Le Court at 57.

Longo Borghini had started the day 35th overall but soared up the GC to win. Trinca Colonel and De Vries completed the podium, with Le Court and Niewiadoma next in line.

“It means a lot to win the UAE Tour for the third time, moreover for the second time in a row with UAE Team ADQ. It’s the home team!” Longo Borghini said.

“We came here not sure about the shape I was in. We took it a little bit easier this winter. So it was a bit harder to win this year compared to last year. I’m very, very happy.”

A readjustment for two top riders

Longo Borghini will hope that her additional work on base fitness this winter will pay off as the season progresses.

She is one of the best riders in the sport, wining the Tour of Flanders and Brabantse Pijl in the spring of 2024, finishing second in Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and then going on to become Giro d’Italia Women champion.

Last season wasn’t quite at the same level, with this likely prompting the rethink in terms of her training.
As for Niewiadoma, blowing up on the final climb was not what she was expecting.

But as her racing sharpness builds, she will expect to raise her game, rediscover the ideal balance between pain and performance, and to be the one dishing out the hurt in the Tour de France Femmes and elsewhere.