Defending Tour of Flanders champion Elisa Longo Borghini crashes out

Puck Pieterse, Simone Boilard and Martina Alzini were also brought down with the Italian champion

Elisa Longo Borghini wins Dwars Doors Vlaanderen
(Image credit: Tomas Sisk - Pool/Getty Images)

Defending Tour of Flanders champion Elisa Longo Borghini has abandoned the race after being one of a gang of riders who came down in a crash in the early stages of the race.

The Italian champion remounted her bike and chased back on but later climbed off unable to continue with the race.

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Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.

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