Elisa Longo Borghini’s (Wiggle-High5) big goal of the season is, like most, a ride at the Olympic Games later this year. Making the Olympics is a rare opportunity for athletes and should she make it to Rio it would be Longo Borghini’s first appearance at the multi-sport event.
Talking to some of her teammates, they believe that the 23-year-old is all but guaranteed a spot in Rio. However, Longo Borghini, who suffered a career-threatening crash in 2013, knows that nothing in this sport is set in stone and she refuses to be obsessed with the idea of competing at the Olympic Games.
“First of all, I need to be selected. You can never be so sure,” she told Cyclingnews with a laugh. “I’m not so brave to sacrifice one whole season for just one race, in this case Rio. I want to be prepared but I don’t want to be focussed too much on one race and have the other races falling apart. Especially this spring, I just want to enjoy things because we are really strong and I want to race hard and to be active in the races.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Longo Borghini has not yet been to Rio look at the road race course and will head out to Brazil with the national squad in May to scout out the route. It’s a hilly and challenging route that should suit the Italian’s skillset. When asked who would be her main contenders in Rio, if she is picked, of course, Longo Borghini struggles to bring the list of favourites down to just four.
“There are so many I could mention, but if I could pick four riders then I would pick Lizzie Armitstead, Anna Van Der Breggen, Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio.”
While she is reluctant to let her desire for Rio take control of her season, she has made some alterations to her season. One of Longo Borghini’s final events before Rio will be the Giro d’Italia in July. Unlike previous seasons, she is not going to ride for the overall victory but will, instead, aim for stages in order to save herself for the Olympics.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1LiZDv5
No comments:
Post a Comment