Yesterday at Cittiglio Karlijn Swinkels claimed her first World Tour victory of her career, but the entire UAE ADQ team also celebrated, gathering around her in a true embrace. The Emirati team, one of the most anticipated since the start, worked hard and with determination, made selections on the first climbs of the Orino ascent, worked together constantly, always to win as a group, and in the end Karlijn found herself in the perfect position to secure a special victory.

«It's a team victory, we wanted to race hard and we succeeded. My teammates were incredible, they worked really hard for me and once I found myself in front, my only thought was to win for them. Anna Van Der Breggen was certainly the strongest climber, she kept accelerating and it was absolutely not easy to stay with her wheel. At the first change of pace I understood that I could manage to hold her wheel, but I couldn't make any mistakes and so I tried to maintain my composure. My teammates kept good watch in the group and up front we played everything in the sprint, on paper I was the fastest but when you reach the end of a race like this there's never anything certain.» Swinkels explains, and she managed to beat Anna Van Der Breggen and Mie Ottestad in the sprint on the finishing straight.

After crossing the finish line, Karlijn Swinkels was greeted by her team's staff, but immediately turned to see her teammates' arrival and ran to them. In that embrace between the Dutch rider and Elisa Longo Borghini, Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini and Silvia Persico lies the strength of the team. There is a special bond that ties them all together, a mutual support that pushes each athlete to sacrifice themselves for the others, but also the awareness of always having someone by their side. During post-race interviews, Karlijn thanked them one by one, specifying how behind her first place there are actually all of them. At the start in Cittiglio they were the first to believe in it, even before she succeeded, they escorted her up the climb and told her not to give up. «The UAE ADQ team is a very beautiful squad, I'm happy at every race precisely because there's a serene atmosphere and there's room for everyone. All the girls are both domestiques and leaders and this is wonderful, it motivates us to give even more, Elisa Longo Borghini herself is extraordinary, at the Trofeo Oro in Euro I worked for her, while at the Binda she worked for me, only a champion of her caliber can manage to do something like that – Swinkels continues – from the beginning of the race my teammates told me it would be my day, it was very cold and I wasn't very confident, but several times they repeated that I had to believe in my abilities and make it to the end. What happened at Cittiglio gave me further confirmation that I'm in an exceptional group»

The Trofeo Binda is Karlijn's second victory of the season and certainly the most prestigious one. The Dutch athlete is becoming a mainstay of the team, at Cittiglio you don't win by chance and, by the numbers, she has all the credentials to go further. In 2025 she had won at the Trofeo Oro in Euro, but then a complicated spring, due to some physical problems, forced her to skip the classics block, her favorite races. «I admit it, it's not always easy to work with me, I'm a very demanding athlete, I want everything perfect, but over time I've learned to accept that things can't always go the right way. During the winter I did a good block of work that allowed me to start the season the right way, I'm happy and consequently I also feel better in races, I can finally give my best. I feel very motivated for the northern campaign, unfortunately at the Omloop I crashed in the final part of the races and had to chase alone, but the sixth place I achieved gave me a great boost. Around me there are very strong girls who I believe can make their mark in the classics, there's Elisa who is our leader, but also Eleonora and Silvia who are unpredictable and many other athletes, we have all the credentials to achieve excellent results and to throw ourselves into the fray.» explains Karlijn, who can now dream bigger and bigger. At the classics she will be part of an incredible powerhouse made up not only of teammates, but above all of friends. The most beautiful dream is to do well at the Tour of Flanders, but also at the Amstel Gold Race, the home race, she will be at both and we are sure that she will give everything for herself and for the good of the team.