Borghesi, chaos enthusiast: “It gives me the strength to express myself”

Letizia Borghesi’s life is “pretty peaceful”, as the young Italian rider puts it, and that’s how she wants things to be. But when she jumps on her bike to race… “I like chaos”, the Classics expert says with a grin. She’ll be delighted very soon with the 12th edition of the Strade Bianche Women, on Saturday 7 March, the perfect opportunity for her to revel on the sterrato paths leading to frenzied glory at Siena’s Piazza del Campo, after taming 34 km of gravel sectors.

It will already be her ninth participation in a most prestigious and chaotic event that only crowned one compatriot of hers, Elisa Longo Borghini (in 2017). Now aged 27, Borghesi has learned the ropes of the Strade Bianche Women and is a proper candidate to shine in Europe’s southernmost Northern Classic. “We have a very strong team, so we can play many cards and adapt to the situations”, she humbly says, while her management points to her as a main asset to spearhead AG Insurance-Soudal in one-day races.

Credits Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency

Fuelled by adrenaline

After discovering racing with Italian teams (Servetto Giusta, Bepink, Aromitalia Vaiano) and stepping up in the UCI Women’s WorldTour with the pink outfit of EF Education, Borghesi has taken her experience, skills and love of chaos to the Belgian rising team, where she’ll take on leadership duties through the spring. Her first race, the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana, shows the female Wolfpack is a right place for her, with a top-3 result in stage 3. And the Classics are already in sight…

“My favourite races are the ones where there’s more chaos, more tension and more confusion”, she observes. “I think I can always handle these situations well. It gives me adrenaline and it gives me that strength I need to express myself to my full potential.” Last year, an early crash almost took her out of the equation in the Ronde van Vlaanderen – “I thought I was done for”, she looks back, “but when the race heated up, in the most exciting moments, I found my energy again” – but she eventually finished 6th. The next week-end, she came 2nd in Paris-Roubaix.

“I’ve improved every year”

Strade Bianche Women played a significant part in the lead-up to these breakthrough results. Earlier in March 2025, she had achieved her best result in Siena (18th), and the white roads have taught her everything she knows about the Classics. “It’s a very special race for me, a personal favourite, in my country, and I think it’s the toughest race of the calendar”, Borghesi describes. “Before the first gravel sections, it’s very chaotic. Then, the climbs and the sterrato make it a very tough race from start to finish.”

Borghesi, who also finished in the top 5 of the gravel European championships and the top 10 of the Worlds, discovered the unique challenges of the Strade Bianche in 2017, at only 18 years old. “It was my first race as an Elite, I was still in school! It was a real struggle, I didn’t even manage to finish”, she recalls. “But from then on, I’ve improved every year. In 2025 I reached the finale with the best, and I had to work for my teammate (Noemi Rüegg, 9th). I had the feeling that if I had raced for myself, I could compete. That was a great feeling for the future!”

Credits Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency