In the most anticipated stage of this Giro d'Italia Women, UAE Team ADQ delivered a true masterpiece. Elisa Longo Borghini is the new Pink Jersey after the grueling mountain stage finishing on Monte Nerone, following an impeccable team performance and a spectacular attack orchestrated with Silvia Persico.

The seventh stage, the longest and most challenging of the 2025 edition with its 150 km and a brutal final climb up Monte Nerone (almost 15 km at an average 6.7% gradient), saw UAE Team ADQ athletes dramatically reshape the general classification.

The key moment came about 25 km from the finish: on a downhill section, Silvia Persico attacked decisively, catching the leading group by surprise. Elisa Longo Borghini promptly launched in pursuit, creating a perfect team action. With them was also Liane Lippert, yesterday's winner and teammate of current Pink Jersey holder Marlen Reusser at Movistar.

For over 10 kilometers, Silvia Persico masterfully led the chase, guiding her captain towards the head of the race. At that point, Elisa continued alone, also catching Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek), the last survivor from the early breakaway. After catching and dropping the Dutch rider, Elisa tackled the final climb head-on.

Despite the comeback of Australian Sarah Gigante - the day's winner - Elisa Longo Borghini crossed the finish line in second place, 45" back, which was enough to earn 6 precious bonus seconds that allowed her to wear the Pink Jersey.

The general classification now sees Elisa Longo Borghini leading with a 22" advantage over Marlen Reusser. Tomorrow, in the final stage from Forlì to Imola, everything is still possible: the final circuit of the 2020 World Championships promises battle and spectacle. UAE Team ADQ with Silvia Persico, Alena Amialiusik, Eleonora Gasparrini, Brodie Chapman, Erica Magnaldi, and Elisa Longo Borghini will fight until the last pedal stroke to try to win this Giro.

Elisa Longo Borghini said: "What we did downhill with Silvia Persico was not a planned move. The plan was to stay on wheels and make a decisive attack three kilometers from the finish, but actually Silvia and I, together with the team, decided to stay in control downhill and we found ourselves in front and at that point I told Silvia to keep going because I thought it was better to take the climb with a 20-second advantage and then have the others chase. I truly owe this day to my teammates because we built this Giro, this team synergy over months and months of preparation, training camps, tough days, challenging days up and down the Dolomites and behind the team car with Paolo Slongo. We dreamed of this day, sometimes we were a bit discouraged, but we never gave up. We had this goal in mind and today we achieved it. Tomorrow will be tough. It will be tough to keep the jersey. As a team, we know where we stand, we're trying to keep our feet on the ground and defend with heart."